Clarification on Recent Poll Concerns, Website Maintenance & CAPTCHA System

Dear Voters,

We appreciate your continued support and participation in our polls. We understand that our latest polls have raised concerns among our community, and we want to address them with full transparency. Our commitment is to ensure fairness, integrity, and a seamless experience for all users.

1. Website Maintenance and Security Measures

Recently, someone attempted to attack our platform by targeting our server multiple times to make it down. To protect the integrity of our services and enhance user experience, we decided to migrate our server to a new, more secure location. This maintenance was crucial in preventing further disruptions and ensuring the stability of our website.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this caused during the poll period. Our technical team worked diligently to complete the transition as quickly as possible while maintaining security.

2. Poll End Time Adjustment

We acknowledge that there was an unexpected change in the poll’s end time. This was due to a system misinterpretation that led to an unintended extension. We understand how this may have caused confusion and frustration, and we take full responsibility for this oversight.

To prevent such occurrences in the future, we are implementing stricter monitoring and verification processes to ensure all poll schedules remain consistent and accurate.

3. Google reCAPTCHA and Temporary Disabling

We encountered significant difficulties in maintaining smooth operations as the reCAPTCHA verification limit of 10,000 assessments per month was quickly exceeded. This restriction severely impacted our ability to verify all users properly. As a result, many legitimate users were unintentionally blocked from casting their votes, leading to frustration and disruptions in the voting process.

Because of this, we have temporarily disabled the CAPTCHA system while our team works to find a better solution that allows fair voting without blocking real participants. However, while reCAPTCHA is disabled, our automatic blocker for VPN and Proxy usage remains active and keeps monitoring user activity in real time. This ensures that all votes come from genuine users and that no unauthorized methods are used to manipulate the results.

Read more about this here.

4. Commitment to Fairness and Transparency

We take all concerns about voting integrity very seriously. Our team is actively reviewing reports of irregularities, and we encourage users to share any relevant details or screenshots that could assist in our investigation. Our goal is to maintain a fair, transparent, and trustworthy platform for all participants.

Shining Awards is completely neutral and does not support or favor any nominee in any way. We want to make it clear that we have never accepted—nor will we ever accept—any form of payment to manipulate or secure a win for any nominee. Integrity is at the core of our voting system, and we are fully committed to maintaining a fair and transparent process.

Any claims suggesting that we have been paid or that we prioritize a particular nominee are entirely false and baseless. If anyone has valid and proven evidence that we have accepted payment from any party to influence the results, we are fully prepared to take full responsibility. However, we are committed to ensuring an honest competition where every vote truly counts.

We deeply appreciate the trust and support of our community as we continue to uphold these principles.

5. Disabled Comment Section

To maintain a positive and respectful environment, we have decided to limit or close the comment section on certain categories. This decision was made due to an increasing number of hate and negative comments aimed at bringing down certain nominees.

Shining Awards strongly discourage any form of hostility, and we want to ensure that voters can respect each other’s choices. Every nominee deserves fair recognition, and we encourage our community to uphold a spirit of mutual respect.

Let’s celebrate the achievements of all nominees in a supportive and encouraging manner.

6. Moving Forward

We recognize our community’s dedication and passion and are committed to improving our systems to provide a better experience. We deeply regret any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to enhance our platform.

We sincerely apologize once again for any confusion, frustration, or inconvenience caused. We understand how important these polls are to our community, and we deeply regret any disruptions. Please know that we are doing everything possible to ensure a smoother, fairer, and more secure experience moving forward. Your support and trust mean the world to us, and we are truly grateful for your patience as we work to make things right.

If you have any further concerns or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support team. Your trust and participation mean everything to us, and we will continue working to uphold the integrity of our polls.

If you have more questions, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

Shining Awards Team