Microsoft SearchPerk - Win Prizes for Using Microsoft Live Search

Microsoft has started offering consumers redeemable points for using its search service – Live Search. Live Search (Windows Live Search and MSN Search) is the name of Microsoft’s web search engine, designed to compete with the industry leaders Google and Yahoo.

The program was launched as new web traffic figure showed that Google had extended its lead to 63 percent of the US search market in August. Yahoo came in with a 19.6 percent share, followed by Microsoft with an 8.3 percent share. Microsoft hopes that its new program will help to increase their share in US search market.

However the promotion will remain an experiment for now, limited to the first 250,000 users in the US that download a web application that records how many searches they do daily on Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. To maintain privacy, the program only tracks the number of searches and not the type of searches people do.

To start using the program, visit getsearchperks.com and download a SearchPerk toolbar for Internet Explorer, which tracks search engine behavior. Users gain “tickets” for every search through Microsoft Live Search. The virtual tickets can be redeemed for prizes, such as airline miles, music downloads, games for Microsoft’s XBox video game system and Xbox 360 controllers.

Microsoft is offering a signup bonus of 500 tickets to encourage people to join the SearchPerks program. SearchPerk users get one “ticket” for every search done on Microsoft, and can receive up to 25 tickets a day.

(Some Microsoft SearchPerk Prizes)

The program is currently available only for Internet Explorer 6 or higher. According to the SearchPerks Web site, the promotion will end on April 15, 2009.

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