Microsoft is offering cash in the form of rebates to persuade users to shop online using it's Live Search engine. The scheme has Microsoft paying back to the consumer between 2% and 30% of the purchase price of over 10 million items from over 700 retail partners. Barnes & Noble, Sears, Overstock.com, Home Depot, J&R Electronics and a host of other retailers have signed on to the plan. The cash back will come in the form of a PayPal credit, cheque, or credit to the users bank account. In addition Microsoft is providing advertisers with incentives by implementing what it calls a Cost-Per-Acquisition approach rather than a Cost-Per-Click as used by Google. This approach means that advertisers will only pay when their ad results in a consumer actually buying something rather than clicking on something, that may or may not result in a sale.
CNET's Charles Cooper says: "Truth be told, it's not the worst idea. What's the harm in giving it a shot? In a recession consumers are open to bribes or rebates. But the reason people use Google is because it works better. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows this. That's why he still thinks making a move for some of Yahoo's assets makes sense."
BBC Story Here.
CNET's Charles Cooper says: "Truth be told, it's not the worst idea. What's the harm in giving it a shot? In a recession consumers are open to bribes or rebates. But the reason people use Google is because it works better. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows this. That's why he still thinks making a move for some of Yahoo's assets makes sense."
BBC Story Here.
