By Dan Austin, Programme Executive, R.O.EYE
The giant that is Microsoft, in its increasingly bitter battle with Google to gain a larger share of the lucrative search market has announced it will launch their affiliate ‘offering’ by offering cash back to customers. Called Live Search Cash back; it is part of a plan by the software company to come up with new approaches for its search business as its proposed take over of Yahoo now looking increasingly sour.
This is a good move on the part of Microsoft, certainly in the PR department, as it will help promote their search service attractiveness to consumers which comes a distance third to both that of Google’s and Yahoo’s.
It is reported to be launching its cash back service with in excess of 700 merchants offering between them 10 million products, with names such as eBay, Foot Locker and Hewlett Packard already jumping onto the Microsoft cash back wagon. All American companies I hear you say, and you would be right, however its worth remembering that if this takes off State side you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be rolled out in the UK fairly swiftly. As a consumer who normally would trust the search engine results, would I start to question the relevance of the displayed ads if I knew cash back was involved? Maybe. In that case there is no way this will work and affiliates shouldn’t be worried. Right? Well in answering that question you would have to consider Microsoft’s recent purchase of the company Farecast. At the moment a travel vertical but Farecast is promising to put search results back into the hands of the consumer, Microsoft will use this recent purchase for more than just travel.
Microsoft is not trying in anyway to muscle in on your affiliate commission; it is simply trying to increase its market share of search by offering consumers a kick back for using their search engine.
What ever happens in the future with Microsoft’s cashback network, success or not, it is sure to bring affiliate activity to the forefront of consumer thinking.
Watch this space…
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This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Affiliate Marketing.
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