So I didn’t win the shopautodotca seocontest search engine optimization contest, so I decided to check on how the actual winners were faring. After all, one of the winners was supposed to become the company’s SEO manager. The top prize winners in the Google category and in the MSN category have both complained that they haven’t received their prizes yet and have threatened to file a fraud claim. (Dead link to forum.) The top prize winner in the Yahoo category hasn’t said anything one way or the other. Meanwhile, the forum hosted by the contest organizers was emptied of all messages, rendering it a breeding ground for message board spam. (It was subsequently taken down late last year.)

I suspect that’s the last I’ll hear of this contest; I don’t anticipate any resolution to emerge.