It’s been a while since I’ve watched Jeopardy, but it seems like $25,000 was about as much as a person was likely to win in a single show. And now Shirley Seaman has won that amount after participating in “the first-ever Jeopardy! Google Daily Challenge.”
Sure, 25 grand isn’t a life-changing sum – only someone who was already on the verge of retirement could quit their job after earning that much – but no one’s going to say “no” to it. Indeed, according to a press release, Seaman “was extremely shocked and speechless,” and “[w]hen asked what she’ll do with her winnings, she replied, ‘Part of the money will be used towards a purchase of a new car, and the rest will be placed into my kids’ savings account for their future.’”
The contest’s other beneficiaries include Janice Johnston, who won $10,000, and Arthur Davis, who received $5,000. For a little background on the whole thing, you can see our previous coverage, but the Jeopardy Google Daily Challenge was basically an online, Jeopardy-style sweepstakes that ran from early June to mid-July.
Google seems to enjoy participating in these contests – after The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google, there was a tie-in to the third Bourne movie. There are also competitions involving t-shirts and Google doodles. As noted, the prizes haven’t been that astounding, but free is free, and the company’s getting a lot of good PR as a result of these activities.
Hat tip to Promo.