Microsoft: Use our search and we'll pay you

Microsoft is offering to pay corporations if they get their employees to use Live Search at work, the company confirmed on Friday.

"Currently, we are conducting a trial program through which Microsoft is providing service or training credits to a select number of enterprise customers based on the number of Web search queries conducted by their employees via Live Search," Windows Live spokeswoman Whitney Burk said in a statement. "These customers, in turn, are providing valuable feedback to Microsoft on the use of Web search in an enterprise environment. As search evolves into more of a productivity tool, and revenue sharing becomes more commonplace across the industry, we are engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships such as this and our recently announced deal with Lenovo to more easily enable customers to choose Live Search."

John Battelle's Searchblog first reported on the program--dubbed "Microsoft Service Credits for Web Search"--and provided more details. Microsoft is offering large enterprise customers free service and credits that can be redeemed for products and training if they push Live search inside their companies. Companies can get a $25,000 enrollment credit plus anywhere from $2 to $10 per computer annually, which can add up to a lot for companies with thousands of computers. In an example given on a Powerpoint presentation that Battelle partially republished, a company with 10,000 PCs and high Web searching could earn $120,000 and one with 50,000 PCs and medium Web searching could earn $200,000.

"This could work, but it could sure backfire," Battelle writes. "How would you feel if, to save a few bucks, the CIO and CFO dictate that you now have to use IE7 preset to Live Search? I can imagine a backlash where usage of Firefox goes way up in large corporations so as to avoid that 'Browser Helper Object' installed in IE 7."

This isn't the first time Microsoft has offered to compensate people for using its search service. A year ago, the company offered prizes to consumers for using its search site.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo are struggling to gain ground in the market against juggernaut Google. Google has more than 50 percent search market share, compared with Yahoo's nearly 24 percent and Microsoft's more than 8 percent share, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Posted by Elinor Mills
http://news.com.com/2061-10803_3-6168028.html

 

what is really the advantage of google search against other search engines?

 

Resistance is Futile...

this is no different then when Apple and MS tried basically giving PC's to schools. Apple actually won that war for a while but MS cut them off by controlling the Corporate world instead.

But yet another reason to move far away from MS...and I do not trust Apple either...both are pure evil in terms of trying to pry more money out of your wallet after you think you bought a computer and the software to run it...

Nothing from nothing but this sort of stuff once was called unfair trade practices because on one hand MS forces hardware mfg's to use MS OS's and then here on the other side they are corercing companies to use their search. Nicely positioned move by MS because unless Google &/or Yahoo take the same route they might lose money as the corporations will be forced by the rules for coporate operations, to take the money as it means more profit for the company in an area that was previosuly a blackhole of lost time.

But what if google offered these corporations ad free searches to elminate part of the overhead of letting users search online...you know when an ad catches your eye because your search was all wrong, and you follow that ad to lord knows where...

Thanks for the INFO!!

 

To me the advantage is lack of clutter and a clean interface for the most part. I in no way mind the text based ads that show. Only thing I do not like is there currently is no way to remove results that are items for sale. But then again that is the business model so often I just jump 20-30 pages down the line...

Yahoo just always looked too busy to me...but when I use it the results are OK and not hard to figure out. MS Search...eh, just another search and I really used it for a total of 3 minutes and wondered why I was wasting the time and went back to Google.

 

Heres a comparison of the features Google, yahoo, live, and a couple other ones.
http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/features/
Look at the review of each of the search engines for strengths and weaknesses.

 

cool thanks for the link.

 

LOL!!!

The only thing i like about live search is it's look.... google white interface is sometimes boring but it gives the result i want on my queries...

 

Thx.. i ll stick with Google + Firefox = 0Wn@G3

 

Microsoft is nuts. First Windows, then Internet Explorer, now search engines. What next? World domination?

 

I'll talk as soon as payment to private individuals is on the table Until then, unequivocally I will not play ball