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Microsoft Live cashback

Microsoft recently announced Live cashback, a program that rewards those who search on their Live search engine and consequently buy a product from one of several hundred merchants affiliated with the program. It’s fairly straightforward. Merchants are in essence placing cost-per-action (aka pay-per-action) advertisements for which they only pay Microsoft if there is a sale. They do not pay for a visitor clicking or merely viewing their advertisement. Of that pay-per-action fee, Microsoft is only retaining a small amount, instead passing the bulk of the money collected back to the consumer.

Microsoft’s Desperate Position

My initial response was that this was a desperation move on the heels of a thwarted acquisition attempt of Google. Most of the negative commentary on Live search is based on the premise that because Microsoft lost out on its Yahoo acquisition attempt that they are now relegated to having to pay customers to use their Live search engine. And, to be clear, there is something desperate about Microsoft’s situation in search. They’ve been at this for quite some time now and their progress has been underwhelming. As it currently stands, here’s the lay of the land:

Search Market Share - April, 2008 - ComScore
1. Google: 61.6%
2. Yahoo: 20.4%
3. Microsoft: 9.1%
4. AOL: 4.6%
5. ASK: 4.3%

But, insofar as Live cashback itself, it may be a response to a desperate situation, but the program shouldn’t be cast in a negative light solely because it is a response to a difficult challenge for Microsoft.

Live Cashback and consumers

If the average Joe can get a few percent of what they spend back when making a purchase (assuming they know Live cashback exists), I’d argue they’d at the very least consider it. Will they actually do it? That I cannot predict. If users do make that switch over to Live, even if only when in a purchasing mindset, the needle moves in Microsoft’s favor on the back of a clear value proposition.

Live Cashback and advertisers

The other side of the coin is the advertisers. Over on Google, merchants place AdWords ads for which they pay when the ad is merely clicked upon. With Microsoft’s cashback program, the advertiser is getting a guaranteed ROI. They are only paying when a sale is made. The advertising investment has no risk.

A few participating merchants and their that caught my eye include Zappos.com (9% Cashback), Barnes & Noble (6% Live Cashback), and Footlocker (15% Live Cashback).

Will Cashback ultimately work?

For the program to ultimately work, consumers have to find value when they try the service. That requires having as many merchants as possible participating, and preferably those who are already top shopping destinations online. For merchants to want to participate, they’ll want to see search volume, which is what Microsoft doesn’t have an impressive inventory of.

Who knows. Microsoft Live Cashback could be dead-on and drive a self-perpetuating cycle of increased search traffic enticing merchants which in-turn drives more search traffic. If everything is spot on, that cycle will still move slowly. One thing that Google has online that Microsoft does not is incredible brand affinity. And, even if there is a perfect storm for Microsoft, thinking that Google will stand by and watch it all happen without doing something to slow or reverse such a cycle down is naive.

Could Cashback just fail? Absolutely.

For Microsoft, having a larger search inventory would be a great place to start. Yahoo anyone?

I know two places: Sphinn and gooruze. Both are created by online marketers for online marketers. Sphinn takes a Digg-like approach whereas gooruze takes a more social route. If you’re in the industry, both are worth a look.

My gooruze page: smcandrew.gooruze.com
My Sphinn profile: smcandrew on Sphinn

“Second Search” is a technique being tested by Google which allows searching a specific web site for content without leaving Google. It all sounds innocent, but businesses aren’t seeing it that way. Here’s a few examples which illustrate their worries:

Note: A few of the results I’ve described below are not consistently showing up - I’ll add screen shots to this post today or tomorrow.

Craigslist - Jobs

One of the very few things that Craigslist charges for is the placement of help wanted ads. They don’t do so across the board, just in select cities. Regardless, the performance that Craigslist gets from its help wanted ads is important them as a business. Here’s where Second Search gets in the way:

Google Second Search: “Jobs” - Competitors Google Presented:

• Jobbing.com
• Career Builder
• The Ladders

HGTV - Mortgage Refinance

Home and Garden Television covers a variety of topics from working on a home you already own as well as the process of buying or selling a home. When a user searches on the word “mortgage” on their site, the page that is returned displays Google Ads for which HGTV generates some revenue (as does Google). Second search cuts to the chase, and cuts HGTV out.

Google Second Search: “mortgage refinance” - Competitor Ads Include:

• Lending Tree
• Countrywide
• Quicken Loans
• Ditech
• Wachovia

Best Buy - Laptop

Best Buy sells just about anything electronic you can think of. One of the largest areas in their physical store is their computer section. Inside that section, laptops likely take the cake for showroom square footage. It’s safe to say Best Buy wants to sell laptops. Google’s Second Search provides consumers with some options Best Buy likely wouldn’t be a fan of:

Google Second Search: “laptop” - Some Competing Retailers Displayed:

• Dell
• Toshiba
• NextTag
• HP

Microsoft - Email Server

Microsoft’s Exchange mail server is popular. It also generates lots of money for Microsoft. It might surprise them that the ads displayed by Google’s Second Search on the term isn’t giving a nod to Exchange Server:

Google Second Search: “Email Server” - Non-Microsoft Exchange Alternatives in the Google Ads:

• Google Business Email
• IMail Server
• Cold Spark

B&H Photo Video - Nikon D200

If you’ve shopped for camera or video camera equipment online, and missed B&H’s site you probably had to try. They sell just about anything you can think of. Example: Nikon’s D200 digital camera. The body runs about $1,300 dollars. Kits range from $1,600 up to over $2,000. B&H wants you to buy a Nikon D200 from them. Especially if you looked for their site first, and then searched on that item. Unfortunately, Google peppers the Second Search results page with an overwhelming amount of competition:

Google Second Search: “Nikon D200″ - A Sampling of Buying Alternatives in the Google Ads:

• Abes of Maine
• Broadway Photo
• Ritz Camera
• Amazon
• BHPhotoVideo.com (adding insult to injury!)

Elsewhere on the web:

• While I provide problematic examples, Janel Landis gives online marketers a clear-headed approach to Second Search - Search Insider
• Vasanth Sridharan over at Silicon Valley Insider has a different view on Second Search:if a site’s own search is better people will use that instead of Google’s. Basis of the second search conversation: missed. - Silicon Valley Insider
• Google: No, no, it’s called “teleportation!” - The Official Google Blog

Google has been testing out some new ways of ‘enhancing’ their search results lately. One tactic that I’ve been monitoring is the ability to search an individual web site and view results without leaving Google. Here’s an example:

I searched on ‘hollywoodvideo.com’ in Google (this also worked at the time of testing by searching on ‘hollywood video’). Here’s what I was presented with:

The first result, as expected, is Hollywood Video. There’s the usual result (and for this example what Google calls “Sitelinks”, the links directly to specific sections of the web site) and then there’s something you might not see to often (yet at least): Another search box whose submit buttons reads “search hollywoodvideo.com.”

It seems harmless enough. You enter something you’re looking for, and you get results right on Google as opposed to clicking on the link to Hollywood Video and searching on their site. But, if you’re Hollywood Video, you probably don’t like this tactic. And if you’re a marketer whom this is new to, you’ll likely start paying more attention to Google’s experiments. Why?

Google is testing monetizing these results

Never mind that the next step from that initial search is usually a click-through to the branded experience you’ve created for visitors to your site.

While currently only happening for the strong minority of these second searches, Google is displaying AdWords ads on these results. On searches that I tested this with over the past week or two, it is quite possible for AdWords ads to display from ad publishers who are your direct competition.

Continuing from the previous example: From the search box that Google provided, I searched on ‘new releases’ which is what I was actually looking for. The first result on the natural/organic side was Hollywood Video’s New Release Calendar. The results page also included two AdWords ads. One was for Blockbuster, the second for Movies.AOL.com. The Blockbuster one obviously being the most troublesome.

This is just one of several tactics Google is currently experimenting with. While marketers (and site owners) have been shaking their fists at Google as suspect strategies appear, the general public likely isn’t noticing a difference, nor would they theorize a change in Google’s ways. Why would they? A change is, however, quite well underway.

Sampling of mentions elsewhere on the web:

• New Google Search Tool Finds Web Publishers’ Concerns - Washington Post
• Google introduces search within search - etre.com blog
• Google Offers Secondary Search Boxes - TechCrunch