Artificial Inflation

When it comes time to search, I Google, occasionally Yahoo!, and once in a while Ask, or even do the Cha Cha Cha. Truthfully, for whatever reason, I rarely, if ever use Microsoft's Live search. Maybe I just don't like the giant that occasionally does evil?

I think I'm not alone in this pattern. I found this study that shows that Google has almost half the searches, and Microsoft not even 10% of the colorful pie.

Some marketing genius came up with the idea of getting people to use Microsoft's Live search engine. Why not make it better when bribery can be so persausive? The goal was to get people to search, so they would give you points to spend in an online store for some great Microsoft prizes, like an Xbox or a Zune. The whole thing is called the Microsoft Live Search Club.

They came up with a bunch of serious silly games like Chicktionary. One has to put a series of letters into words. When you need a hint to finish the puzzle... wait for it... it's Microsoft Live Search to the rescue.

I will admit that I tried a few of the games. They were rather unfun, and quickly became drudgery. After a night of playing, I had 100 points. It takes 20k for a Zune, so I'm not getting one anytime soon, and there are better uses of my time, and yours. Also, more than once, Microsoft Live Search was not helpful at solving the puzzle, but Google came right to the rescue. This once again confirmed the way that I search, and not to use Live.

More than a few folks found the games rather boring, but wanted the goods. So, they came up with some bots to play the games. They took in thousands of points per day. The bots even did some Live searches, which will push up the numbers for Microsoft in a seriously big way.

When the next set of search numbers get released, I think that Microsoft will look like they're gaining in popularity, and they are getting more searches. While that may be true at face value, keep this article in mind, and you'll know where that increase really came from. Chicktionary anyone?

--Jonas