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Microsoft: Would you use our search engine for a shiny new nickel?
It's hard being Microsoft. Oh, not when you're talking about desktop software. The company pretty much owns the desktop operating system. But on the web, Google is pretty much king. And no matter how hard Microsoft has tried, the company has been unable ot make a dent in Google's dominance of the search engine market. So Microsoft is tryng something new: Bribing people to use its Live Search.
Here's how it works. If you use Live Search Cashback page to search for products, When you buy qualifiying items, Microsoft will throw a little bit of money into a cashback account for you. When your balance reaches $5 or more, they'll send you the money. Microsoft has reportedly partnered with retailers including Barnes & Noble, Sears, Home Depot, and J&R Electronics to offer cash back deals of between 2 and 30 percent.
Of course, you don't make any money if you don't spend some. And while Microsoft might be able to convince a few folks to use their product search engine, it remains unclear whether the move will convince people to use Live Search for their everyday search needs.
[via Seattle PI]
Comments
10
Subscribe to commentsJonMay 21st 2008 10:26AM
Hookup with amazon and now we are talking
ToddMay 21st 2008 10:31AM
Actually they desperate sounding offer is a symptom that the "The company pretty much owns the desktop operating system..." business model is no longer profitable. If everything is so rosy in desktop land, why try to compete in search?
Kinda sad to see once mighty Microsoft stand on the street corner and offer up its goods for 5 bucks. Maybe someone will get them into an "at risk" shelter, let'm clean up and get their GED at night school.
JamesMay 21st 2008 11:03AM
Competing with the web is MS' new goal. They dominated the desktop, so why not steal EVERY single market in relation to consumers with IT? It's global dominance, and simply put, MS isn't going to rest until there is NO "dominating competitor". I don't blame them. If I owned a multi-billion dollar company, and I saw other people profiting from things that I have any (even a small portion) of market share, I'd try to smash all the little guys too, and feed the government with discounts on my software so they don't come after me.
Makes total sense.
RiddarMay 21st 2008 11:12AM
This is a completely meaningless statement, akin to saying 'If Google is such a halfway decent search engine, why are they so desperate to get into email?' It is a business, they focus on growth, and this is a market that, while started by any number of sites such as FatWallet for Jellyfish, never caught on. Maybe they can take advantage of their size and take it mainstream.
QuikboyMay 21st 2008 7:17PM
What you think is desperate, is what I think is a kinda smart move.
Users receive some cash for spending and get what they want. The stores that are offering cashback deals (some paying a lot more, so that users are more tempted to receive extra money back if they use this particular store) might get more people to actually buy the products they're selling. And Microsoft wins by having more people using their search engine, and receiving some profit from the online stores.
It's a win-win-win situation for the user, the online stores, and MS.
I think Cashback is targeted towards frequent online shoppers that would like to save a little cash, but at the same time get the products they want. I think, that you're thinking it's target towards people that just want free cash. WRONG. You have to spend money from the online store you pick, and they tell you clearly what percentage of the price you get back via Cashback.
That's all there is. It's just an incentive to get users to try Live Search, and get the service they want. It's really not a bad site (thanks in part to the Jellyfish team most likely). No need to hate.
james.r.mauroMay 21st 2008 11:28AM
Sounds like they're integrating their Jellyfish acquisition into the fold... In fact, that service is "currently offline to perform necessary service upgrades and enhancements."
TurboFoolMay 21st 2008 3:31PM
Did this make anyone else think of the Windows Server 2003 commercials? Guy running around the office sounding absurdly excited, shouting "We save a nickel!" Finally he runs buy one group and more specifically says "With Windows Server 2003 we save a nickel on every transaction we process!" The guy he says it to smiles and turns to the woman he's with and says "we process over 100,000 transactions a day." Or something like that.
Hany HannaMay 21st 2008 6:29PM
...or you could just forward Bill Gates tracking e mails to all your friends and get thousands of dollars.....he can afford it you know.
MysteriusMay 21st 2008 9:18PM
Sorry for being dumb, but what does this mean?
Hany HannaMay 22nd 2008 8:13AM
It's a joke....haven't you ever gotten a chain e mail telling you microsoft is tracking e mail traffic and you'll get lots of money if you forward it to your friends? Not so Mysterius is it?