Sep

Bing Rewards Preview

Ryan

I don’t know why I’m so late to the party, but I just found out about the Bing Rewards Preview. How long has this thing been out? Any ways, after downloading the Bing Toolbar and then singing in with my Windows Live ID (I had to do some guess and check on that one) I’m up and running and earning points from Bing like no other. Actually, I can only accumulate 1 point for every 5 searches I do up until October 2, with a limit of 8 points a day.. then what happens after that. I can’t wait to get my Bing Magic 8 Ball! Dumb.

Any ways, and really, the whole “We’ll pay you to use us” idea is not completely dumb. The idea is pretty ingenious though. When just a year or so ago, Bing was paying big bucks for big ad and marketing campaigns, today, they’re now paying YOU.. but not really those big bucks. Will this increase their market share? Will this have an effect on search engine usage? Signs Point to Yes.

Today, people are willing to do anything for anything free. While there is the Bing 8 Ball available for point redemption, there are also things like X-Box games, digital picture frames, and gift cards. Not horribly exciting stuff, but still, stuff I would use personally if I had them. And all for what? If I move all my searching to Bing for the next few weeks and shut out Google… will I convert? Probably not since all my applications, login access, documents, pictures, etc. are over there, but I bet there will be at least a few odd ex-patriots… a few.

One interesting thing I learned along the way however was Bing’s way of letting you know you’re not doing it right. Below is what displays when you do a search on Bing or in the Bing Toolbar:

And then below is what shows up when you do a search in Google:

Yeah, you’re not doing it right dummy!

Is that supposed to be the warning light letting me know that my ‘Gears of War’ won’t be coming any faster if I use Google? You bet. Either way you search though, while I wouldn’t suggest a new toolbar to use (Go to www.Bing.com if you want to search on Bing), the whole Rewards Program/Preview concept is kind of a big thing. It may not lead to a mass exodus, but I bet there will be some rifts in the market.

Oh by the way… do you think the Bing Rewards Preview will have any impact on Paid Search spend in Google? What about Paid Search Spend in Bing?