Playing the lottery is fun and easy, but winning the lottery is another matter. To become a big winner, players have to beat incredibly tough odds, and unfortunately the only way to improve those odds is to buy more tickets. However, not everyone can afford to splurge on lottery tickets. In this SearchLotto review, we’ll explain how one tool proposes to help players win by giving away free tickets. If that sounds too good to be true, read on to find out if it actually is.
What Is SearchLotto.com?
SearchLotto is a website that lets users earn lottery tickets by performing web searches. Instead of heading to Google or Bing, users type in their search inquiries at www.searchlotto.co.uk.
After an inquiry has been input, results will pop up provided by Yahoo!, so it functions as any other popular search engine. After a certain amount of searches, users receive one free entry for a UK National Lottery game syndicate for either a EuroMillions or UK National Lotto draw. To receive an entry for either of these lotto games, users must perform a total of 20 unique searches.
What Is a Syndicate?
A lottery syndicate is a group of lotto players who pool their money to purchase more lottery tickets. Not only do these groups share the price of the tickets, but they also split any winnings. This is what happens in many workplace lotto pools, where co-workers each contribute a specific amount to purchase tickets. While many casual syndicates are formed between friends and family, there are more formal ones that players can enter that are made up of strangers. These syndicates are sometimes organised by the official game operator, or by some third-party ticket purchasing services like theLotter.
Online lottery syndicates are a great way of improving your odds of winning without having to pay more. SearchLotto claims that each free ticket they offer is one entry for a UK National Lottery syndicate containing 20 members for the National Lotto draw and 25 members for the EuroMillions draw.
How Much Does SearchLotto Cost?
To get started with SearchLotto, users must first create a free account. There are no charges for the service and no membership fee, which means it is entirely free to use. That might sound a little fishy—how could this website possibly afford to provide people with free tickets to the lottery if they aren’t charging any money? According to the SearchLotto website, their revenue model is based on advertising. They generate profits through the searches themselves from advertising partners, which allows them to purchase the lottery tickets and organise the syndicates. SearchLotto is only available to residents of the UK, and users must be at least 16 years of age to participate.
User Experience
SearchLotto presents a very professional-looking website and has an extensive FAQ sections that lends them some credibility. The engine is simple to use and provides quality search results provided by Yahoo!
SearchLotto Concerns
While SearchLotto claims to be in partnership with Yahoo!, a reputable and credible company, as far as we can tell there are two major concerns with the service it provides: privacy and verification of searches. There have been many concerns in recent years about the ways that online media companies use user data. At least in this instance, the company is being somewhat forthright about monitoring user activity, as that is their entire business model—they track users’ search activity, and in turn reward the user. However, users may still be concerned about privacy breaches. In the FAQ section, SearchLotto somewhat eases these worries by stating that they comply with the Information Commissioner’s Office code of conduct.
The second concern is whether or not searches actually get verified. SearchLotto must verify users’ searches before adding them to their account and counting them toward the 20 searches that entitle them to a free entry. A search inquiry cannot be too similar to a recent search, or it will not count. This means that you could think you’ve performed four searches, but SearchLotto will only count one. SearchLotto also sets out some clear restrictions on how many searches count and how many entries users can receive—they will only count a maximum of 20 searches per day, and will only provide four free entries per week.
Claiming Prizes
Finally, the process of receiving any winnings seems pretty simple. Once a user performs 20 verified searches, they will receive a syndicate entry in the form of lottery numbers and a ticket that they can print off. If the syndicate wins, users can be paid through PayPal or bank transfer, which may take up to seven business days to process. However, users must claim their prize within 30 days of the draw, as payments are not automatic.
Customer Service
SearchLotto also provides many avenues through which users can get in touch to answer questions, including email, mail, and an online submission form. They claim to answer all inquiries within 24 hours, but online reviews from users have expressed disappointment in the speed of replies.
Bottom Line—Is SearchLotto a Scam?
In performing a quick search for SearchLotto reviews online, you may see that there are many negative reviews calling this service a scam. However, it appears that many of these reviews are meant for a different service or product, as many of them refer to a monthly subscription fee. Either SearchLotto has drastically changed its practices over the years, or these reviews are for a different product.
As SearchLotto does not require any detailed financial information or charge a fee, we don’t see how this could be a scam. The worst offenses that reviewers seem to complain about, and with which we agree, are long waiting times for customer service, some spam emails, and not winning large enough sums. So, while we don’t believe that SearchLotto is a scam, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be worth your time.
Like with most free lottery sites, you’ll likely end up putting in a bunch of work to get very little in return. While anything can happen when you have a lottery ticket, a more realistic view of using this service is to expect small occasional payouts of £1 or £2. If that's something that vibes with you, then by all means, go ahead and give it a try.
