Microsoft now resorting to free ringtones to add searchers
Microsoft's Live Search Cashback program isn't winning Microsoft search market share, so the company today launched SearchPerks, a program to give users prizes for using Microsoft search. Use Microsoft search for 4 days and get a ringtone. Use it for 10 days and get 100 frequent flyer miles. Use it for 7 months and get a new xBox controller. The catch: you have to use Internet Explorer and open a Windows Live account. People don't bother bending at the waist to pick up pennies off the sidewalk anymore, so like Cashback, SearchPerks and free ringtones probably aren't going to increase Microsoft's search market share. But because you have to install something called a "Perk Counter," which tracks some of your online behavior, SearchPerks could help Microsoft come out with more studies saying how important brand advertising is compared to Google-dominated search marketing.