Live Search Cashback

Microsoft launched a very interesting product this week, Microsoft Live Search Cashback, in order to lure users to search with Microsoft Live Search and garner market share from Google. If you are searching for a product you want to buy and do it via the Cashback service you basically get a discount (the cashback). The cashback comes from the money MS would have made from the advertiser whose ad you clicked. The idea then is that users like the service so much or become used to it, that they use the regular Live Search every day, therefore increasing MS market share.

Nice idea, but I have my doubts whether Cashback will take off in a way that would effectively eat from Google’s share of the ad-pie. Why? You need early adopters who use it and talk about it, you need Sneezers. However, product searches are only a small portion of searches and purchases with a significant Cashback, let’s say in the magnitude of an iPod, are limited as well, people are not going to buy a new one each week.

Coming back to these early adopters, I would consider myself to be among them. I will not deviate from my modus operandi: I have Firefox installed and the search box customized with various add-ons like YouTube, Technorati, Blogsearch, Ebay, Amazon etc. I might add Live Search Cashback to that, but the use will be very limited since I do not buy expensive gadgets every day. Therefore I won’t talk about it.

But good luck anyway.