How bad is Microsoft's Internet search?

Apparently it's this bad. Microsoft has been paying people to use Live.com for searching since May. Now Wired.com reports:

TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld points out, a small initial boost in Microsoft’s search share in June nearly evaporated by July. According to Comscore, Microsoft had 9.2 percent of the search market in June, up from 8.5 percent in May. But in July, Microsoft was back down to 8.9 percent of the market.

It may be that we are creatures of habit when it comes to search or that Microsoft has not marketed its cashback service well enough to woo prospects. Or, it could be that Google’s product is just better. Either way, Google has held steady with around 61.8% of market share since May.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Microsoft's Live Search Cashback Scheme Fails To Move The Market Share Needle

I'm not surprised, considering the problems I've had with MSFT's Vista search.