Microsoft Live Search Cashback

Last week Microsoft launched a cashback incentive scheme that gives US customers rebates on goods purchased from selected retailers on their own search engine, Live Search. The money is not knocked off the goods at the time of payment but paid into a personal Cashback Account – a bit like PayPal - set up by the customer. Microsoft say 700 retailers have signed up, offering more than 10 million products.

For Microsoft the benefits are obvious. They need to attract people to their Live Search engine and people like to save money. Simple. Some are calling it down right bribery, but hey, that’s business! But what does it mean for the future of pay-per-click and search engine marketing? Well, right now, very little. It’s not really a new idea as such; it’s an affiliate programme in all but name. However, if it catches on, increases Microsoft’s share of the search engine market then it could be taken up by Google etc. and become the template for SEO in the future.

But a word of warning before everyone gets too excited. Microsoft is not taking a cut of the cut, so to speak. The entire discount, 100%, is rebated to the customer. Some are suggesting that what may happen, once the system is bedded in, is that Microsoft will find the lure of the cash too much to resist and might start keeping some of the cashback for themselves. In which case it begs the question as to why a retailer would want to be hit twice on the same transaction… Interesting times…