outbid.lol vs lowbid.lol
Same surface, inverted rule. Only one of them is a media buy.
outbid.lol
Highest cumulative bid takes #1.
lowbid.lol
Lowest unique bid takes #1.
Side by side
| outbid.lol | lowbid.lol | |
|---|---|---|
| Who wins | Whoever spends the most. | Whoever guesses the lowest amount nobody else picked. |
| Predictability | You can see the price of #1 and pay it. | You cannot know if your bid is unique until others have bid. |
| Cost to compete | Rises without limit as others bid. | Stays low by construction. |
| Treat it as | An advertising purchase with a computable cost per click. | A game with a placement as the prize. Do not budget it as marketing. |
Which to pick
Pick outbid.lol
You are buying traffic and want to know what you get for the money.
Pick lowbid.lol
You find the budget-decides-everything version distasteful, and you are entertained by the mechanic itself.
Whichever you pick, price it in clicks rather than in rank — the method is in is a listing worth the money.