Microsoft still paying people to search
Microsoft's latest effort to get people to use its search service is something called SearchPerks, which gives people points for using the search engine that can later be redeemed for prizes.
Users who agree to download a small program to track their usage get one "ticket" per day for every Live Search query, up to 25 per day. The program runs through April, at which point users can "cash in" the tickets that they get and trade them in for prizes or donate them to a charity.
It's the latest in a series of financial incentive-related projects from Redmond, joining such efforts as Live Search Club, Search and Give, and Live Search Cashback, a program Microsoft introduced in May.
The latest project doesn't just require one to use Microsoft's search engine, however. At least for now, it also requires Microsoft's browser (Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher) as well as a Windows PC. Microsoft said those latter restrictions are not necessarily permanent.
"At this time, SearchPerks is a limited promotion, though we remain open to expending availability of the promotion to different browsers and operating systems based on consumer interest," Microsoft said.
There's also the broader question of what it says about Live Search overall that Microsoft has to keep coming up with gimmicks to get people to try it. Not to mention the fact that Microsoft has continued to struggle to make inroads on Google in overall share, promotions notwithstanding. According to figures recently released by ComScore, Google increased its share of the U.S. search market in August--it's at 63 percent--while Yahoo and Microsoft both slipped a bit, to 19.6 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.
In an interview, Live Search Senior Director Frederick Savoye said that the new business models, as Microsoft likes to refer to these programs, are just one part of a three-prong strategy that includes continued improvements in core search as well as in vertical search, or "simplifying key tasks" in Microsoft parlance.
Microsoft has seen mixed results with its incentive programs. Live Search Club, for example, gave Microsoft an initial boost, but its gains appear to be directly tied to its level of incentives. With Live Search Cashback, Microsoft said it has seen some advertisers boost their Live Search spend. eBay, in particular, is spending 50 percent more on Live Search thanks to Cashback, which Microsoft says offers significantly higher conversion rates than traditional search.
On the broader goal of boosting Microsoft's share of the commercial search business, Savoye said, Cashback has yet to make a meaningful shift in share. "We haven't seen it move significantly yet," Savoye said.
PR Director Whitney Burk said that programs such as SearchPerks are still needed to introduce people to Microsoft's search product.
"We know we have some challenges with the brand and perception," Burk said. "Simple awareness is still a challenge for us."
People can sign up for SearchPerks through the end of the year, or until Microsoft reaches its target of 250,000 participants. Rewards can be earned through April, though Microsoft may decide to extend or expand the program.
In pilot testing, Microsoft said it saw those in the program perform three times the number of searches they had been doing. Savoye noted that in the airline industry, for example, loyalty programs have become a standard part of doing business.
"Over the long-term these programs have changed people's behavior," he said.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Anyhoo, the point is Google just track me through iGoogle. If I was signed into Google and did a search they could just keep track of it right? Why doesn't Microsoft just do that with hotmail or something? Why all the hassle with downloading a program? Sounds like they're making this a bit more complicated then it needs to be. That's just my opinion though.
Try to open yourself to a wider perspective on the usefulness of there offer and you will see that this is a win-win situation for everyone. Not just a gimmick.
Yeah, that's what all the gimmick marketers say. Another writer mentioned the work "bribe". That seems a fair enough description. And I think that anytime the "incentive" is actually a bribe, then that's a gimmick.
A third definition might be something like "a promotional item or service given away to encourage consumers to purchase (or use) a product or service that they would not normally purchase." I think the connotation for gimmick is based on the *degree* that the consumer would not normally purchase, i.e., an incentive will work to increase sales of a desirable product while a gimmick is needed to lure the consumer to buy something that he was not at all considering buying (or using), especially if the value or usefulness of the promotional item is small. In the object-oriented world, "gimmick" would be a sub-class of "incentive".
Using that definition, a "gimmick" can be an effective "incentive," even though the gimmick item is not useful, for example, McDonald's Happy Meal toys (Mom really wasn't thinking about McDonald's for supper until the kids started begging for Happy Meals because they wanted they toys). Arguably, the "incentive" given away by Microsoft is somewhat useful, but time will tell if it is effective.
Perhaps the classification of "gimmick" is being applied based on the fact that MS feels that giving away an "incentive" will be more effective in encouraging adoption of the product than improving the product itself. One could say "Google doesn't need any gimmicks to promote use of its product - it sells itself."
I enjoyed reading your post. It's a rare but pleasing experience on here to read comments from people who are interested in engaging the conversation without all the name calling and personal attacks while deliberately trying to demoralize others just because they disagree with ones viewpoint.
The IE only thing is a double-ploy for market share, though. Wonder how quickly this will be exploited.
Equally, no amount of money is gonna win you search market share, when Live search results continue to be so crappy, especially the "news" results from Live search.
The get paid to use "Live Search Club" has been around for over a year now, and Microsoft has still managed to lose market share big time in that year.
Why can't Microsoft group the "news" search results by similarity like Google does? And why does the "news" results keep coming up with news from like 5 years ago, when you are looking for news on a subject matter for today?
The prizes were never very good. I'm still waiting for my X-Ray glasses.
LOL!
Yes, I would say Microsoft [Search] is in BAD shape. Likewise the MSN chat.
Ratehr than doing one or two things well *COUGH*, Microsoft chooses to do several things poorly/horribly.
I will stick with Google and Chrome.
In other words: gotta give to get. When you're in the position of playing catch up, you can't meet market demand if you don't know how the market is currently using/reacting to your product. It is once they have these base data points (and they "need" a statistically significant amount of them, hence giving incentives to users to data mine their product interactions) that they can then ratchet up the R&D process that will inevitably launch the next iteration of MSN Live Search. Microsoft needs that at the very minimum to compete with the Google innovation machine which dominates the search market in the U.S.
I use http://www.click4carbon.com when searching the internet. Profits generated from ALL advertising revenue is used to fund forestation projects worldwide. Have a look, give it a go - you have nothing to lose!
Personally I would rather give than take.
Microsoft's websites (and internet applications like Messenger and IE) are clunky, ugly and don't work well, don't take me where I want to go today, don't help me find what I'm looking for along the way.
Microsoft is like the General Motors of the internet... doing too many things poorly, mandating from the top down "This is good enough for you, puny human. Do not look at Toyota." (Or in this case, Google, Apple.)
Instead of throwing good money after bad, they need to take a hard look at where they have a shot at succeeding, retrenching and going for it. Not to mention increasing R&D and dropping all vain demands that their researchers develop on IE first. If Google is the bazaar and Apple is the Cathedral, Microsoft begins to feel more and more like the bus station. Not sure where that leaves Yahoo. Perhaps the guy on the corner shouting "The End is Near!"
It's also not listed anywhere in this article directly. Could be part of the problem. I have heard of "Windows Live", but never bothered to look into it.
The funniest part of this? I opened up a new tab, which defaults to google, and searched for "microsoft live search" just to FIND their search engine.
How's that for market share?
- by ifiredmyboss.com November 10, 2008 2:52 PM PST
- I found it interesting that Savoye used the airling rewards program at a time when they are getting harder to use and their perceived value is dropping.
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