MyPoints (aff) just released a new instant win game called Spin N’Win with MyPoints. Members can spin a wheel once daily through April 30th for a chance to win from 5 to 10,000 points. Your chances of winning, and the amount of your win, are determined by a super-secret algorithm based on randomization, the number of players, “and the number of points available.” A total of 8,627,500 points will be given away during the duration of the game.
In addition, MyPoints is doing a sweepstakes with one winner in March and one in April each winning a million points. Many actions on MyPoints qualify for entries into the sweeps including playing the Spin n’ Win Game, completing a “frog” in the MyPoints Frog Pond, registering a credit card with MyPoints In Store, referring friends who join the program, completing your MyPoints profile, downloading and using their Point Finder toolbar (you’ll want to avoid this — toolbars are evil), redeeming points, or making purchases through MyPoints, with bonus entries if it’s their Merchant of the Week or Big Points Offers. See the rules for the exact amount each of these activities will earn toward the sweeps.
Basically the one million points sweepstakes is meant to drum up activity across the board on MyPoints.
You can earn the most points toward the sweeps if you make purchases at MyPoints…but you know, if you’ve read my shopping comparison analyses, MyPoints consistently offers the WORST overall shopping rates out there once you do the math on what a point actually equals, compared to a dozen plus other competitors. Are you willing to get paid significantly less for shopping, in exchange for chances at ONE prize a month of a million points? For me, the answer is abso-freakin’-lutely not!
So, once again MyPoints comes up with a completely underwhelming promotion. Why not do something that would benefit ALL of your members, like increase your shopping rates, even for a limited time, like they do at Ebates, MyPoints, Upromise, Memolink, and MrRebates? Heck, MyPoints could DOUBLE all their shopping rates and they still wouldn’t be the best overall shopping site!
MyPoints’ best selling point is its point-earning opportunities that don’t require you to spend anything, like points for reading emails, points for printing coupons, points for answering polls, and points for searching. To the extent that the Spin n’ Win game gives members free points — it’s great. But for shopping, my recommendation stands: AVOID.
One other important thing I want to mention: MyPoints monitors member participation in these games very closely and in the past, they’ve used gameplay (I believe, by IP) to detect members violating their Terms of Service by having multiple accounts. If MyPoints thinks you are ripping them off by having multiple accounts, they can delete your account immediately, you’ll lose your balance, and you’ll have NO RECOURSE. I strongly suggest that you play fairly, and I’ll go one further and strongly suggest that if you and a spouse both have MyPoints accounts, that only ONE of you play the game each day. They are VERY MILITANT about prohibiting fraud. Do NOT try to rip off MyPoints!
And last of all, MyPoints, if you’re reading this — and I know that you do — there should be two apostrophes in the contraction for and, one before and one after the n. My 9 year old knew that. 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Actually, that should be ZERO to 10,000 points. Both of my spins so far have been 0 points.
I have played every day this month since it has been open. So far twice I won 100 points per spin only to have zero points in my account credited. Same thing happened to a 5 point win. And twice I have had it land on a prize and stop only to look back up after writing it down and having it “move” to zero. So far I have won nothing over 5 points at a time. Seems rather shady to me.
I usually get zero points for spinning the wheel. But I did get a 5 and 100 once.
I play daily and the wheel stops at Zero. It’s not like the previous Spin The Wheel. This game is shady.