We’ve known for a while that Microsoft is not content being solely a software company. They know the Internet is a place they need to be, but so far they’ve struggled with trying to get people to use their search site. Google comes in first when it comes to search market share with Yahoo in 2nd and Microsoft in a distant 3rd. So what’s a company to do to lure in more users? Pay them cash!
Today Microsoft will be announcing a new program called Cashback in which they will give cash to users who use Live Search to search for products and then purchase them from stores online. They’ve partnered with companies like Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Office Depot, Sears, and more. According to Todd Bishop over at Seattle P-I, Microsoft will give users anywhere from about 2% to 30% of the purchase price back in cash. Bishop points out how this move by Microsoft really shows they’re struggling. He says, “It’s an unusual move that illustrates the lengths to which the Redmond company is willing to go in its struggle to gain ground on the Internet search king.”
The site that Microsoft has put together for this program is already available for viewing. They explain the process in three steps:
- Search – search for cashback deals at search.live.com/cashback – results will clearly show how much cash you’ll get back by purchasing at certain retailers
- Shop – compare and sort products by the bottom-line price
- Save - once your cashback account reaches at least $5, and you’ve passed the 60 day wait period after your purchase (because of possible returns) you’ll be able to “claim” it – it’ll be deposited via PayPal, direct deposit to your bank account, or through a check in the mail
Taking a look at their FAQ page, it was interesting to see their answer of “Why are you paying me cashback?” to which they said, “We want to earn your loyalty and reward it with cashback savings for your everyday online shopping. We are “The Search That Pays You Back!”. I guess that sounds better than saying “We want to take down Google and Yahoo and we’re hoping by paying people to use our search, they’ll come back…”
Thanks for the tip Omar!
If this business model works, it would be great. For example I was interested in buying a digital camera (Canon PowerShot A720) at Amazon for $199.99.
At Microsoft’s Cash Back I found a company (JR.com) selling the same camera for $178.88 plus a 5% cash back discount or Net Price of $170.89.
I would receive a cash back from Microsoft of $8.99 just for buying the camera from one of their registered retailers. Bottom Line: A better deal at JR.com plus a cash back of $8.99. Not bad if you ask me.
The availability of digital cameras at Microsoft Cash was huge….I mean huge!
I doubt this will make a lot of people loyal to WLS if their quality doesn’t just improve. Instead, a lot will probably just use this to get discounts.. so if it’s worth it to MS that some people will get more experience with WLS?
That’s great to hear. If you can save an extra buck or two here and there then why the heck not?
But I doubt Microsoft is really losing anything by doing this. All they’re probably doing is forking over the money they would have gotten from the companies for the referral. If they can get more users in the end by doing so then more power to them.
it must be getting lots of traffic because the site is down:
Redirect Loop
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The browser has stopped trying to retrieve the requested item. The site is redirecting the request in a way that will never complete.
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Do we really care how many searches conducted on a search engine? No, we only care how many PROFITABLE searches conducted. However, in current market status, more searches conducted on a search engine overall also mean more profit because current CPC (Cost Per Click) model is based on statistical measures.
What happens if Microsoft lures away those profitable search activities (searches conducted with purchase intentions) from Google? If this really happens, Google will become a non-profit DO-NO-EVIL public facility.