• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:32 AM

Bolstered by the prospect of adding Yahoo Search to its arsenal, Microsoft is revisiting an old experiment: bribing people to use its search service in order to steal market share away from Google. Under the new plan, Microsoft will give consumers cash back on certain purchases made from advertisers in 18 vertical search categories. Microsoft is touting the cash-back service as a way to use search to get deals on products, but the truth is, many of the so-called "deals" they find will actually be artificial promotions for Live Search.

According to Microsoft's Web site, savings will be based on a certain pecentaage of a product's price and be paid to consumers via check, bank deposit or eBay's PayPal. This means consumers need to sign up to the use the service and provide personal billing information. Canon digital cameras, Bulova watches, and Oakley sunglasses are among the companies participating in the promotion. Vendors include Barnes & Noble, Circuit City and Home Depot. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will have more details in the new service in a speech later today.

TechCrunch points out that Microsoft is essentially offering advertisers a cost-per-acquisition model as opposed to Google's pay-per-click model, which is riskier because a searcher might click through but not complete a transaction. The cash-back plan incentivizes both the advertiser and the end-user to use Live Search because the advertiser only pays for a sale and the consumer saves by receiving a piece of their fee.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »