Microsoft Offers "Cashback" to Search Users

Online shoppers have a new incentive to use Microsoft's search engines - cash.  As part of its ongoing effort to crack away at Google's dominating market share, Microsoft is hoping that the promise of online discounts will entice search users to give their service a try.  Anyone who registers with Microsoft Search cashback will be eligible to take 2 percent to 30 percent off of items they find.

Similar efforts have been made by smaller companies in the past, but Microsoft's massive online presence is already generating significant attention.  While many observers believe that this initiative will boost Microsoft's search presence among online shoppers, the company is facing criticism from those who view the move as an "amateurish" act of desperation.