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July 21, 2006 – Scavenger hunts are no longer relegated to backyards anymore; the old childhood pastime has now gone global via the net. Free online service FotoGrab.com is a photo scavenger hunt website with regional and nation-wide hunts, introduced on the web last month.
Since its launch on June 2, the website has drawn in nearly 720 members with 3500 images uploaded, according to FotoGrab.com spokesperson Ray Wisbrock.
Users can participate in the National Foto Scavenger Hunt to win iPods and gift card prizes sponsored by FotoGrab. One of this month’s national hunts, that began yesterday and lasts until August 4, is entitled "See Celebrities." In this contest, the winner will receive a $25 Bath & Body Works gift card for posting individual photos of America’s favorite love triangle, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Aniston, among other stars.
Last month’s national hunt winner, Belle38, won an Apple iPod shuffle in "The Great Outdoors" hunt, in which one of the winning photos included a squirrel eating a nut.
Scavenger hunters can also create their own personalized Foto Scavenger Hunt, customized for up to 20 friends. Users can create their own theme, post start-to-end dates, and offer a prize. The hunt allows up to eight photos on the site per member, six customized by the user and two by FotoGrab. The website limits the photos to 500KB each. The private hunts are only available for viewing by invited parties.
"While the Web offers many photo sharing and storage sites, we wanted to create a place where you can have fun with your friends and compete with others to find all kinds of fotos," states the FotoGrab website. In addition to posting and viewing options, users can share stories by posting a blog on the website.
FotoGrab recently updated the website so that if users so choose, anyone online can view the photos. "A new rock band, for example, can create Foto Hunts for their fans to participate in and might offer concert tickets or CDs as prizes," stated a Four Islands Entertainment press release on Thursday.
FotoGrabber.com is the first installment from Chicago-based Four Islands Entertainment, LLC, who plans to launch more websites in the next three months, according to Photo Marketing Association.
Four Islands Entertainment plans "to drive traffic for retailers," such as McDonald’s and Starbucks, said Wisbrock, "once membership reaches critical mass."