“The software giant is said to be launching a service called LiveSearch cashback, which will give consumers money back when they buy certain products found on the live.com search site,” Tanaka reports.
“The move appears to be a desperate attempt by Microsoft to grow search and ultimately boost its search advertising revenues,” Tanaka reports.
“After spending a fruitless three months attempting to woo Yahoo!, Microsoft is trying to find ways to rev up its online advertising business, which trails behind Yahoo! and even further behind industry leader Google, which also has the No. 1 search engine with more than 60% market share,” Tanaka reports.
Tanaka reports, “Coming up with mobile and in-game advertising strategies is another big focus in Redmond. Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, said the number of cell phones that can receive rich media ads is going to triple in the next couple of years. ‘We think mobile is a tremendous opportunity going forward,’ Bach said.”
Tanaka reports, “”Bach said Microsoft is experimenting with integrating ads and games, so users don’t view them as nuisances.”
More in the full article here.
J. Nicholas Hoover reports for InformationWeek, “This isn’t the first time Microsoft has rewarded people using its search engine. Last year, Microsoft rewarded users for playing search games with a site called Live Search Club. That initiative provided a temporary boost in Microsoft’s search market share, but was later found to have been gamed by hackers looking to increase their awards.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Scott” for the heads up.]
Can’t compete? Bribe. It’s like second nature to Microsoft.