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Microsoft Will Offer Search Customers Cash

Rewards part of effort to gain ground on market leader Google

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser User

Posted May 21, 2008 10:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – Having largely abandoned its bid to buy, in the form of Yahoo, a significant presence in the Internet search business, Microsoft now will give customers money back when they buy items through its Live.com search portal, the Wall Street Journal reports. To be made official today, the move makes clear Microsoft isn't giving up on its search ambitions.

Industry leader Google holds a significant edge on Microsoft, which is currently running third behind Yahoo, but looking to "Live Search cashback" to help close the gap. Customers using the service will need to create a free account and shop through the website; vendors include Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, and Oakley sunglasses.

This set of flagpoles sits at one of the entrances to Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash.
This set of flagpoles sits at one of the entrances to Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash.   (AP Photo/Joe Brokert, File)
Workers walk outside of a Microsoft campus in Mountain View, Calif.
Workers walk outside of a Microsoft campus in Mountain View, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO.
Bill Gates, Microsoft CEO.   (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey)
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, addresses the media during a news conference at the CeBIT in Hanover, northern Germany.  Without the influx of Web traffic Microsoft bet would quickly follow a Yahoo buyout, the software maker is facing a long slog if it wants to turn its money-losing online services...
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, addresses the media during a news conference at the CeBIT in Hanover, northern Germany. Without the influx of Web traffic Microsoft bet would quickly follow a Yahoo buyout,...   (AP Photo/Joerg Sarbach, file)
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