Microsoft Pays for Searching 'Til April 2009, Firefox Users Not Welcome

From DailyTech: Microsoft is the world leader in the operating system world. Its Xbox 360 console is a strong second worldwide, with excellent hardware sales. The company is even salvaging its reputation with clever new ads.

The one eyesore for Microsoft is its floundering online efforts. While Microsoft dreams of one day rivaling Google in the search engine market, it is unable to even catch up to veteran platform Yahoo, which itself is a distant second to Google. This sad state comes despite massive spending on its online divisions.

In yet another attempt to try to gain some sort of internet search traction, Microsoft is returning to a familiar theme -- spending more money -- but this time it’s giving money to customers. DailyTech covered the early days of these promotions, which were expected to go as quickly as they came.

However Microsoft continues to expand on its cash for search programs. Its latest edition is the Search Perks incentive, which joins Live Search Club, Search and Give, and Live Search Cashback promotions in recent months. Microsoft is getting a little trickier with its latest effort -- you not only have to use Microsoft's Live Search, but you also have to use its Internet Explorer Browser which is bad news for Firefox stalwarts.

To join the promotion, users must download a small program. You can't download the program or view the true SearchPerks site from Firefox or Opera browsers. Once you get the program, it tracks your searching and gives you one ticket per search query. You can earn up to 25 tickets a day. In April, users can cash in the tickets for prizes or to give money to charity. Microsoft has not announced the prizes yet, but one of them might start with "V" and end with "ta" according to rumors.

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