December 2, 2008 by James Oliver
Microsoft is attempting to revive its much maligned Live Search Cash Back Service. Microsoft had started offering discounts at sites like eBay in return for a certain number of searches using Live Search this year. However, the system came in for criticism when it emerged that the discounts were fairly stingy (usually in the region of 5%) and also tended to take months to actually materialise.
Undiscouraged by this failure, Microsoft has offered an apology to users of the Cash Back service and unveiled a brand new program that features instant cash back on eBay purchases made using the system, although strangely, the savings will not be instantaneous for all users, just a select few. “Eligible shoppers will be notified online after completing a purchase on eBay,” says Kok Waii Wong, Live Search product manager.
It’s not clear whether there is any rhyme or reason to which customers get instant cash back and which don’t. It’s also unclear whether this is a trial period for the new cash back system, a gradual roll out of the service, or simply as good as it’s ever going to get.
Initial reaction from users has, predictably, been a unfavourable. The new Live Search Cash Back system could already be dead in the water.
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