Brit Gardner ::: Web Developer ::: Dallas, TX

Tag Archives: technology

Microsoft Live Search Cashback

21 May

The news was all abuzz today over the announcement of the Microsoft Windows Live Ultimate Vista Live Windows Search Cashback program (seriously, have you read about the branding problems at Microsoft?) and I honestly have to say I’m not surprised Microsoft is going in this direction. Most pundits have been deriding this idea, and I have to agree to with most if not all of what they are saying.

But there is one thing I vaguely remember reading back a few weeks ago. Microsoft blasted current search advertising relevance, saying that the system was incredibly inefficient. Ad buyers are paying for ad space by the CPM or click-through, but Microsoft’s stance is that advertisers should be paying by the conversion. I happen to agree with them with this (and so does Om Malik).

Eventually the online and search advertising industry is going to become more and more efficient, analytics will get better, and ad buyers will want quantitative results for the money they spend. The ultimate result is the conversion, not CPM or click-through.

So, with that frame of mind maybe Microsoft does have the right idea in giving their search users incentives to produce conversions through their search. But, in typical Microsoft fashion, Microsoft Whatever Cashback came off looking like a cheap “You’ve Been Pre-Approved For Cashback!!” credit card spam scheme rather than a prescient or game-changing step towards a more efficient online advertising industry.

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