The Googlization of Everything

Times Online:

Microsoft has said that paying people to use its search engine when shopping for goods online will give it the best chance of unseating Google in the market for internet services.

Offering a cash rebate of about 10 per cent on the sale price of goods purchased over the internet would provide a significant incentive for people to switch search engines, the software giant said, adding that it would also keep trying to compete with Google in other areas, such as the overall quality of search results.

Kevin Johnson, the head of Microsoft's online services group, said that the company was increasingly focused on making money from search queries which had "commercial intent" - for example, those in which people were looking for products and services. Searches for products in industries like travel, property and financial services made up 30 per cent of queries but accounted for 80 per cent of all search-related revenue, he said.

"Clearly we're not where we want to be in search," he said, referring to recent figures from comScore which suggest that 87 per cent of all searches in the UK are conducted using Google. "When you have entrenched competition, you have to find new ways to innovate and disrupt, and we're now starting to differentiate ourselves in terms of our business model." ...