Microsoft: Use our search and we'll pay you

Microsoft is offering to pay corporations if they get their employees to use Live Search at work, the company confirmed on Friday.



"Currently, we are conducting a trial program through which Microsoft is providing service or training credits to a select number of enterprise customers based on the number of Web search queries conducted by their employees via Live Search," Windows Live spokeswoman Whitney Burk said in a statement. "These customers, in turn, are providing valuable feedback to Microsoft on the use of Web search in an enterprise environment. As search evolves into more of a productivity tool, and revenue sharing becomes more commonplace across the industry, we are engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships such as this and our recently announced deal with Lenovo to more easily enable customers to choose Live Search."

Microsoft is offering large enterprise customers free service and credits that can be redeemed for products and training if they push Live search inside their companies. Companies can get a $25,000 enrollment credit plus anywhere from $2 to $10 per computer annually, which can add up to a lot for companies with thousands of computers. In an example given on a Powerpoint presentation that Battelle partially republished, a company with 10,000 PCs and high Web searching could earn $120,000 and one with 50,000 PCs and medium Web searching could earn $200,000.


Both Microsoft and Yahoo are struggling to gain ground in the market against juggernaut Google. Google has more than 60 percent search market share, compared with Yahoo's nearly 24 percent and Microsoft's more than 8 percent share.

Let's see when and how they implement it!