November 9, 2007
Microsoft still searching for an answer
The use of bingo competitions to win readers marked a particular low point in the UK’s newspaper circulation wars. It showed a fundamental lack of belief in the core product. In a mature market, the newspapers ran out of ideas for ways to set themselves apart.
So what should we make of Microsoft’s latest gimmick to drum up traffic for its search engine? It seems the order has gone out to try just about anything that might persuade people to switch from Google and Yahoo! According to this story on Marketwatch, Microsoft is testing the idea of giving away prizes like T-shirts and videogames to get people to use its search engine more. This comes after Live Search Club, which temporarily boosted Microsoft’s market share this summer by getting people to search while playing online word games.
Search is not a mature market. Far from it. Bill Gates likes to say that search is still in its infancy, and that there is plenty of room left for world-beating innovation. So why is Microsoft behaving this way? With Google still forging ahead at full steam, it looks like desperation.
Hi Fellow Techies. I would like to start a discussion about how to carry all of these multiple gadget we have to haul around these days. What are people buying? Does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks!
Posted by: GadgetGirl14 | November 9th, 2007 at 10:35 pm | Report this commentanyone heard of CellKeeper? i have tried their products. they seem real durable and they are multifunctional. it is quite good for carrying around many things. www.cellkeeper.com. cheers mate.
Posted by: ThaoTech2 | November 9th, 2007 at 10:38 pm | Report this commentSuch a weak idea and it’s not even original. There’s already a incentive based search engine called blingo that is doing unspectacularly.
Posted by: Anthony | November 10th, 2007 at 12:48 am | Report this comment