Awards That Are Not Awards

One distinction does most of the work: paying to enter is sometimes normal, and paying to accept is not.

The Better Business Bureau describes a category of "vanity awards" requiring an entry or acceptance fee, typically a couple of hundred dollars, usually beginning with an unsolicited email saying you have won or been nominated. (BBB — consumer protection organisation.) For a practical reference outside the awards context, see cognitive offloading.

Paying to enter, paying to accept — an entry fee buys assessment with an outcome that may be no; an acceptance fee means the decision was not a decision.

The unsolicited nomination — you cannot win something you did not enter, and the approach is built around stopping you thinking it. Related industry context can be found at EY.

What a legitimate award publishes — named judges, full criteria, a shortlist before the ceremony, checkable past winners, a traceable organiser.

The badge and the backlink — some badges are free because the product is a link from your site to somebody else's domain.

What a fake award costs — five costs beyond the fee, including discovery years later by somebody with a reason to check.

Checking one in ten minutes — six checks in order, and the first two settle most cases.

• The Badge and the Backlink

  Some award badges exist to place a link on your site. What that does, why it is offered free, and what to check first.

• Checking One in Ten Minutes

  Six checks in order of speed. What each one rules in or out, and the two of them that settle most cases on their own.

• Paying to Enter, Paying to Accept

  The distinction that separates a legitimate entry fee from a vanity award. What each pays for, and where the line sits.

• The Unsolicited Nomination

  A congratulatory email for something you did not enter. What the sequence looks like and why it works on competent people.

• What a Fake Award Costs

  Five costs beyond the payment itself, including the one that lands years later when somebody has a reason to check.

• What a Legitimate Award Publishes

  Five things a genuine programme makes public before you enter, and what the absence of each one tells you about it.