The furor over Microsoft’s Live Search Cashback program unexpectedly going dark for most of Black Friday highlights an embarrassing situation for the software giant. The company can’t seem to make a dent in Google’s search dominance. In this article, I’ll chronicle some of the ways in which Microsoft has tried to buy its way to the top.
Microsoft's first attempt to buy search engine loyalty goes back to March 2007, but we'll start with May 2008, when Microsoft first launched its Cashback program through Live Search. It works as a kind of loyalty program. When users sign up for the program (with a Windows Live ID), they get a special account. They can then search for deals on a wide range of products at the Live Search cashback site, shown above. For every product they search for and buy, Microsoft gives users cash back.
Even if users aren't searching from the cashback site, as long as they're searching with Live Search, they can watch for a special icon that clues them in to cashback savings from Live Search. There are plenty of details associated with the program, including waiting periods. But who wouldn't be interested in seven percent off a Viewsonic 26-inch LCD TV, as I turned up recently?
Since it was Microsoft making the offer, many online retailers got on board. Even eBay partnered with Microsoft - which led to some pretty interesting auctions. One eBayer put $714.28 in cash up for auction for $630. Users could access the page through a Live Search ad link that returns 35 percent of the purchase price - meaning that they made up the difference, and then some; the seller also turned a profit, naturally, at Microsoft's and eBay's expense, at least until the two companies plugged the loophole.
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