Microsoft bringing back Bing Cashback program in the name of Bing Rebates

Back in 2008, Microsoft announced Live Search Cashback service, which was powered by Microsoft’s Jellyfish.com acquisition. After Bing rebrand, it became Bing Cashback program. Through this service, Microsoft paid consumers for shopping through Bing. Microsoft’s plan was to help advertisers reach consumers with compelling offers, and to provide a new type of shopping experience that would change user behavior and attract a bunch of new users to Bing. Due to lack of interest from consumers, Microsoft discontinued the service in 2010.

“In lots of ways, this was a great feature – we had over a thousand merchant partners delivering great offers to customers and seeing great ROI on their campaigns, and we were taking some of the advertising revenue and giving it back to customers. But after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for,” said Yusuf Mehdi from Microsoft.

It looks like Microsoft is bringing back similar cashback program in the name of Bing Rebates. Bing Rebates will give select Microsoft Rewards members rebates when they shop with participating retailers on Bing. Microsoft will pay the rebate amount via PayPal after a retailer confirms the purchase. In addition to offering rebates on its own products and services through Microsoft Store, Microsoft Bing has partnered with popular retailers like NewEgg, Lego and 71 others.

Here’s how you can earn rebates:

• First, sign into Microsoft Rewards. Search on Bing, and look for search results with Bing Rebates shopping tags.
• To make a purchase, click through to the retailer’s website, then shop as you normally would. You should complete your purchase in a single browsing session without leaving the retailer’s site or using a coupon code. Once you complete your purchase the rebate will be credited to your Rewards account. After a brief waiting period, you can transfer rebates to your PayPal.
• To earn rebates, you must enable third-party cookies on your browser. This is the default setting on most browsers, but if you have modified settings or installed special privacy software, you may need to return to a standard configuration.

You may earn up to $1,000 per year through this Bing Rebates program and as expected, Bing Rebates program is limited to consumers in the US.

Source: Microsoft via: Rafael