The "Daily Mail" prize was first announced in October 1908, with a prize of £500 being offered for a flight made before the end of the year. When 1908 passed with no serious attempt being made, the offer was renewed for the year of 1909, with the prize money doubled to £1,000 Like some of the other prizes offered, it was widely seen as nothing more than a way to gain cheap publicity for the paper: the Paris newspaper "Le Matin" commenting that there was no chance of the prize being won.