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InformationWeek Daily - Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Microsoft Live Search Cashback Deserves Some Credit
With Live Search Cashba...
14 Min Read
Microsoft Live Search Cashback Deserves Some Credit With Live Search Cashback, Microsoft has decided that it's willing to take some heavy losses to buy search market share. Ignoring the bribery, which inevitably will have to end, the search engine itself is actually pretty good. The benefit of this program for the merchant is that it's a cost-per-action plan for customer acquisition, with the cash kickback coming from the merchant and going into the customer's account. Normally the search engine company would take a cut of that money -- or all of it -- but for now Microsoft is passing the entire amount back to the customer. It's better in many ways than the cost-per-click plan that's typical of Google AdWords, which makes the merchant pay but doesn't guarantee a sale. It's a lot harder to perpetrate "action fraud" than "click fraud," for example. Live Search Cashback beats Google Product Search with the "Bottomline Price" feature. I can't tell you how many times I've searched for the best price on a product, only to go through most of the purchase process and find out there are additional processing fees or outrageously high shipping charges. So back I go to the search listings and try several other sites until one of them has a reasonable total price. Live Search eliminates those empty-basket shopping trips by showing the actual price after tax, shipping, and cash back allowance. Several other search engines like PriceGrabber have this feature as well; it's surprising that Google lags behind here. A lot of you probably work for large companies and have company credit cards. That is one of the places where purchase gimmicks can generate sales, and one of the reasons why I don't like them. I'm a business owner, and these kinds of deals provide the wrong incentives. Employees can be tempted to steer company purchases toward these deals not because they're the best price, but because they get to keep the kickbacks -- rebates, gift certificates, airline miles, you name it. In the end, what I really want is to quickly find a product at a good price, and my experiments with Live Search Cashback did that. I'd love to see Live Search integrate product and merchant reviews, which Google Products already has; a good price means nothing if the merchant can't deliver or the product doesn't work. Although a lot of people will no doubt come to Live Search for the cash back, Microsoft's built a search engine that's good enough to use whether they pay you or not. Have you tried Live Search yet? If not, does the cashback offer appeal to you? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comment section. Dave Methvin[email protected]www.informationweek.com |
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"I have failed many times, and that's why I am a success." -- Michael Jordan |
How To Tame Microsoft Windows Vista's UACAre all those Windows Vista User Account Control warnings driving you nuts? Here are seven ways to make Vista's UAC less intrusive, while keeping legitimate security threats at bay. Potential Facebook IPO Keeps Investors Speculating Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive, has remained mum on the social network's IPO plans, except to say a 2008 IPO is "highly unlikely." Deal Sought On U.S. Cell Phone Cancellation Fees Wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel say the fees are needed to ensure they recover the subsidies they provide for handsets. Online Spending Slows In April For the first quarter of the year, online retail spending reached $32.8 billion, including auction fees and autos, but excluding event tickets, ComScore said. N.Y.'s CIO Urges Interoperable, Vendor-Neutral Document Format The state report also advocates the creation of a cross-government Electronic Records Committee to address long-term concerns. Microsoft Responds To GameStop Dropping Zune Sales The software giant remains optimistic in the face of the latest obstacle to adoption of its portable media player. Tech Sector Sees More Deals Despite Tough Financing The global technology industry is expected to consolidate further as companies seek niche technologies and greater economies of scale, even as troubled credit markets make it tougher to raise money for deals. Hop-On Unveils $10 Mobile Phone The Hop 1800 works with more than 40 U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile. Windows Home Server Bug Fix Available In Beta Microsoft hopes to have a final version of Windows Home Server, Power Pack 1, available in early June, but cautions that testing may delay the launch. Three iPhone Models, Faster Service Tested An executive at Australia's Telstra said the carrier already has been testing new iPhones operating at speeds capable of 42 Mbps. Vulnerabilities Found In IBM Lotus Sametime And Cisco Gear Cisco alerted users to vulnerabilities in several of its products while IBM says it has a patch ready for its software. Auction Site Helps Disaster Victims In China, Myanmar AuctionPal accepts donations of unused goods, sells them, and gives the proceeds to charities helping the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. Google's Page Goes To Washington To Promote 'White Spaces' Page sees slivers of unused wireless spectrum filling a role similar to Wi-Fi -- free and available widely across the United States. See InformationWeek's daily breaking news on your mobile device, visit mobile.informationweek.com and sign up for daily SMS notifications. |
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