Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has launched a new service called Live Search cashback.  When searching for products using Live Search cashback, users will be able to compare prices among multiple stores and find out the best deal. 

The model around this service sounds very familiar.  Amazon.com, a company that is about 1 or 2 towns away from Microsoft provides the same service.

“The new service is part of a broader effort by Microsoft to try to attract more consumers to its Internet search service and better compete with Google,” wrote Robert A. Guth, editor at the WSJ.  I agree with Guth that Microsoft is lagging on search competition against Google, but this model does not sound like Microsoft is trying to compete against Google directly.

The cashback that consumers earn by using Live Search cashback will be sent via check or PayPal.  Billing details will have to be sent to Microsoft.  Some of the store savings data aggregated by Live Search cashback includes Circuit City, Newegg, Overstock, KMart, PCUniverse, Sears, Digitalfotoclub.com, Compuvest.

Below is a screen shot I took when searching for a 16GB iPod Touch.  Live Seach cashback found me a price of $330.52 and The Apple Store sells it for about $399 (with free engraving if ordered online).  Saving $69 using Live Search cashback is pretty good.  I searched for the same thing on Amazon.com and it found a price range of $305-$369.

“In recent months we’ve heard from our Alexa users that understanding Internet usage beyond Alexa Toolbar users was increasingly of interest. Ask and you shall receive!” wrote Geoffrey Mack on the Alexa Blog.

Alexa statistics have shifted and the bloggers were some of the first people to react. First thing I noticed was that TechCrunch’s rank felt about 1,000 and it’s ranking is now comparable to LifeHacker.com’s. This seems like an accurate assumption since at one point, TechCrunch was transparent with their hits and LifeHacker still is. Around the time I compared TechCrunch’s hits on SiteMeter vs. LifeHacker’s, I found that TechCrunch’s hits were less than half yet still had a much higher Alexa ranking.

Based on the new ranking that Alexa assigned Pulse 2.0, it seems like a fairly accurate assumption as well. Over the last couple months, Pulse 2.0’s Alexa ranking was falling, but hits were increasing overall. Today, our ranking jumped from 156,000 to 102,000. I think that Alexa is accounting for our overall increase in hits now.

Great job, Alexa team!

Over the past couple weeks, there have been some interesting changes in the Alexa Top 10 Global sites.

Battle of The Searches With A Little Video Website In Between (1-5)
1.) Yahoo! has retained their #1 position.  They have millions of users chatting away on their Messenger software, watching Yahoo! Videos, listening to Yahoo! Music, and playing Yahoo! Games.  For Google or Microsoft to take away their user loyalty, it’ll be tough.  Microsoft seems this as being an issue, hence the $44.6 billion offer.

2.) YouTube is the most surprising of all.  YouTube surpassed Google, its own parent company.  This is an indication that everyone that uses the Internet all over the world is interested in video content now more than ever.  Google acquiring YouTube for $1.7 billion was such a bargain for the search company.  Considering that Yahoo! is worth $44.6 billion and they are one rank higher than YouTube, YouTube must be worth at least $30 billion today.  Video startups, this is your time.

3.) Live.com.  This ranking was inevitable for them since Microsoft switched a majority of their online services under this domain name.  Hotmail is now Mail.Live.com, MSN Messenger is now Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Spaces is their free blogging platform, etc.

4.) Google dropped by 1.  They are still in the close running against Microsoft and Yahoo!, but YouTube made up for their fall.  Google could easily pass Live.com if they put YouTube under the Google.com domain, but that would just look ugly.  Imagine having a friend sending you an IM that says “Check out this video at http://YouTube.Google.com/watch?v=raGuLfAruNM” instead of “Check out this video at http://youtube.com/watch?v=raGuLfAruNM.”

5.) MSN.com is becoming the personalized arm for Microsoft.  MSN.com, a news portal also includes My.MSN.com, MSN Video.  MSN.com used to be #3, but is losing traction due to its sister-site, Live.com

The Social Networks And The Open Source Encyclopedia (6-10)
6.) MySpace.com is currently the world’s biggest social network and is owned by News Corp.  MySpace was originally an indie site made for musicians to connect with each other and was created by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe.  MySpace is now being used by News Corp. as real estate for advertisements.  News Corp. is also pushing the MySpace brand in major aired events like the Super Bowl.  During the Super Bowl, it was pointed out that advertisements can be watched on MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds

7.) Facebook is the $15 billion valuated social network that is now an exclusive advertisement partner with Microsoft.   Facebook quickly lifted the mat from under MySpace.  In the last 2 years, Facebook started allowing applications and allowed anyone to register for their site, characteristics that were very MySpace and Friendster-like.  But Facebook has grown rapidly on the Alexa top sites and those are a couple of the reasons.  Will Facebook beat MySpace within the next few months?  Very likely.

8.) Hi5 is one of the biggest social networks in Latin America.  The company has 98 million users and was founded by Ramu Yalamanchi in 2002.   Hi5 recently launched a Chinese version of their site and raised $15 million last month.

9.) Wikipedia is the most well-known use of open-source today.  Content on Wikipedia is all provided by its users.  The company was founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger.  By the end of 2007, Wikipedia had 9.25 million articles written in 253 languages.  Not too shabby for a 7 year old online encyclopedia.

10.) Orkut, another Google property founded by Orkut Büyükkökten is another social network. This is also the most visited web site in Brazil.  I bet if you go to an Internet Cafe in Brazil, at least half the people will visit Orkut at least once or twice, just like if you go to any college campus in America, you’ll see Facebook loaded on many of the screens in the libraries.  As a matter of fact, 55% of all Orkut’s traffic is from Brazil and 17% is from India.

The Alexa Blog is located at: http://awis.blogspot.com/.

Recently Amazon.com placed a job posting on Gamasutra indicating that they will be introducing a new feature for Video Game and Software Downloads.  This feature complements their Unbox service where users can download software, movies, and music right away.  A softawre development engineer position is open with The Software and Video Games Digital Technology Team at Amazon.  This Team is responsible for “digital distribution of software and video game products from the Amazon website, including the newly launched Amazon Software Download store.”

I did a search for PC Games on Amazon and it seems like they have a lot available for purchase.  Being able to download them right away would save consumers time in having to wait for the shipping and handling.  And with all the reviews available for each game on the web site, it helps consumers be able to decide whether certain games are the right fit for them.   More to develop on this story later.

[Information Source: Download Squad]

Amazon.com announced today that they are investing in Bill Me Later, Inc. Not only that, but Amazon is also signing a agreement with the online billing company as well. eBay and PayPal has thus far proved the synergy of combining an online retailer with an online billing payment company. Over 90% of all eBay auctions are paid via PayPal so it made sense for eBay to buy them for $1.5 billion.

“Bill Me Later has developed a very customer-centric method to make online shopping even easier,” stated Matt Swann, VP of payments at Amazon.com. “We are pleased to make the convenience of Bill Me Later available to our tens of millions of Amazon customers [source: Amazon.com press release].”

The investment terms were not disclosed, but the company has $200 million in funding capital according to TechCrunch. Bill Me Later investors include Chase Paymentech, Azure Capital Partners, First Data Corp, Crosspoint Venture Partners, GRP Partners, CIT Group Inc., Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, Citigroup, Equifax, T. Rowe Price, and Legg Mason Inc.

“Amazon.com and Bill Me Later share the same commitment to making shopping easy for consumers,” stated Gary Marino, the CEO of Bill Me Later. “Just as Amazon invented a new and better way for people to shop online, Bill Me Later has created a new and better way for people to pay for purchases online.”

Before joining Bill Me Later, Marino was an EVP, Chief Credit Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer of consumer lending at First USA/Bank One.

IMDb, subsidiary of Amazon.com has filed a trademark application for the term SoundUnwound.  The trademark would cover:
“Providing information regarding, and in the nature of, social networking services; online social networking services designed for people with a common desire to meet other people with similar interests; Social networking services for music enthusiasts.”

This means that IMDb may be interested in putting together a social network for those who are interested in music.  IMDb has a little bit of social networking built around their website in terms of discussions, reviews, comments, and the ability to put together a profile.  Building a network that revolves around music would put them in a market that complements the one that they are already in: movies.

IMDb could be building a music database that could be potentially drawing from the same data Amazon.com has.  Amazon.com has a full listing of all the tracks on almost every music album selling on their website.  Building a social network around that has potential to become successful.  Other music social networks out there include Amie Street and iLike.

[Found via Mashable]

We’ve been working on Kindle for more than three years. Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands — to get out of the way — so you can enjoy your reading,” stated Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We also wanted to go beyond the physical book. Kindle is wireless, so whether you’re lying in bed or riding a train, you can think of a book, and have it in less than 60 seconds. No computer is needed — you do your shopping directly from the device. We’re excited to make Kindle available today.”

Jeff Bezos is the new Steve Jobs.  This is because of the announcement that Jeff Bezos made about Amazon.com’s newest device, the Kindle.  The Kindle is a portable device that allows a user to download books, newspapers, blogs, magazines, and other publications wirelessly. 

The device weighs roughly 10.3 ounces (less than an average book weight).  The device has letters and symbols written in different alphabets according to Erick Schonfeld.  The Amazon.com Kindle is essentially an iPod for books.  This device is especially useful for those who spend lots of time travelling on planes, trains, and automobiles.

The screen of the Kindle needs a light source, similar to an actual book.  This may be an advantage for the length of the battery life.  The more a device lights up, the faster the battery dies. 

There is a scroll wheel that allows the user to scroll up and down the right side of a page.  But to move on to the next page or previous page, the user must hit the Next Page or Previous Page buttons.  There is also a keyboard that allows users to search within the Amazon.com store.

Other web features of the Kindle include Ask Kindle NowNow, Basic Web, and Play Music.  Ask Kindle NowNow is similar to search engine, ChaCha in the sense that a guide will answer search queries.  Coincidentally, Jeff Bezos is an investor in ChaCha.

The Kindle also has Wikipedia and The New Oxford American Dictionary bult-in.  Fonts can be adjusted in 6 different sizes.  Gizmodo has tons of pictures of the new device.  Using the wireless connection on the Kindle is free, but reading TechCrunch, GigaOM, Scoblelizer, and Paidcontent is not.

“Mike’s blog is one of 300 web pubs that Amazon is selling via its new e-book; other pay-for-play pubs include Rafat Ali’s Paidcontent (99 cents per month), Om Malik’s GigaOm ($1.99) and Robert Scoble’s Scobelizer ($1.99). Amazon wouldn’t tell us how much of the putative revenue the bloggers get, but we guesstimate it’s in the 35% to 50% range…” [Source: AlleyInsider]

The Kindle is available for purchase at: http://amazon.com/kindle for $399.  It will be interesting to see how this new device drives the retail and publication world.  The Kindle offers convenience and accessibility to information and is backed by Amazon.com’s strong e-commerce brand.

Information Source:
[1] Amazon.com press release

I just noticed that on my Alexa.com toolbar (owned by Amazon.com), Google’s rank looked a little different.  The web information company’s toolbar was telling me that Google is no longer glazed in bronze.  It had a silver spoon in its mouth.  Oh for crying out loud, If you don’t get my metaphor, what I’m saying is that Google is now ranked #2 and MSN is ranked #3.

Alexa’s Global Top 10:
1.) Yahoo!
2.) Google
3.) MSN
4.) YouTube
5.) Live.com
6.) MySpace
7.) Orkut
8.) Facebook
9.) Wikipedia
10.) Hi5

Looking at the top 10 web sites, Google has the most presence on Alexa.  They are ranked #2 and they own #4 and #7.  Whereas, Microsoft only owns #3 and #5.  Google also has a presence on #6 because they have an exclusive advertising partnership with MySpace.com.  Microsoft counteracted that move by signing an exclusive partnership with #8 website, Facebook.com. It seems like both companies were playing with their domains a little bit over the last year or so.  We saw the rise of Live.com this past year and GMail.com shifted over to the Google.com servers.  Below is a chart comparison from Alexa:

Notice the instant growth of Live.com?  This is perhaps because Hotmail.com shifted over to Live.com servers.  Seeing as how Live.com is constantly growing and MSN.com is slipping a little bit, I’m curious to see what Microsoft will do with MSN to ensure it doesn’t slip more.  And also, what will Yahoo! do to maintain #1.  Over the next couple years, we should see some interesting changes in the Top 10, especially seeing as how it felt like YouTube and Wikipedia came out of nowhere and claimed their current spots.

 “Amazon MP3 is an all-MP3, DRM-free catalog of a la carte music from major labels and independent labels, playable on any device, in high-quality audio, at low prices,” stated Bill Carr, Amazon.com’s VP for Digital Music. “This new digital music service has already been through an extensive private beta, and today we’re excited to offer it to our customers as a fully functional public beta. We look forward to receiving feedback from our customers and using their input to refine the service.”

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) officially launched Amazon MP3 today, an online store that sells over 2 million songs from over 180,000 aritsts and 20,000 labels.  All of these MP3s do not contain DRM (digital rights management) software.  This already provides a competitive advantage and incentive to use Amazon over iTunes.  When purchasing a song from iTunes, a user is limited to what they can do with the song.

Most of the songs are priced from $0.89-$0.99.  The top 100 best-selling songs are generally marked as $0.89 on Amazon MP3.  Most albums are from $5.99-$9.99 on Amazon MP3 as well. 

Amazon is also utilizing 1-Click shopping technology that allows users to seamlessly add MP3s to Windows Media Player, Winamp, iTunes, etc.  Amazon MP3 could drastically effect shopping for CDs in stores and we will probably see a lot of iTunes’ song purchasing market-share get taken away from them.

Amazon MP3 can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=163856011