14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of May Microsoft introduced the Live Search Cashback initiative, in an effort to organically increase the market share of its search engine against Google. Paying end users for their searches was not by any means a new idea, and as far as the Redmond giant was concerned it had Jellyfish (which it acquired in 2007) to thank for doing all the heavy lifting. With Live Search however, the concept of paying users for their searches is available on a very large scale as Microsoft holds the third position on the search engine market in the U.S. behind Google and Yahoo. And as of August 4, the company started touting the Live Search Cashback Back-to-School Deal Days campaign, promising no less than double rebates for online purchases made via its search engine.
"After the holiday season, back-to-school is the most important shopping season of the year. However, a recent survey from Deloitte found that during this back-to-school shopping season, 71 percent of households plan on spending less on back-to-school items than they have in previous years. With consumers feeling financial strain from higher gas and food prices, Live Search cashback is offering back-to-school shoppers extra savings to stretch their dollars further," Microsoft explained.
According to the Redmond company, the Live Search Cashback Back-to-School Deal Days bargains will be available to consumers until the end of the month. The software giant already has a few offers in place and is offering cachbacks of up to 38% of the product's price. This of course, provided that consumers use the Live Search Cashback program in order to access the products sold online. The company enumerated Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears, Foot Locker and Zappos.com among the online retailers that are participating in Live Search Cashback.
"Consumers can save money each time they use Live Search cashback. For every qualifying purchase, the shopper will be sent an e-mail message confirming the Live Search cashback savings. Consumers' cash can be claimed when their Live Search cashback balance hits at least $5, 60 days after the purchase. Microsoft will provide the rebate one of three ways: via PayPal, check or direct deposit into a bank account," the company added.