Microsoft will now pay UK users to use its Bing search engine

Bing Mobile
Microsoft is clearly getting desperate to shore up the number of users adopting its Bing search engine, and is now offering UK users points in return for searches made on the platform which can be traded in for music, movies and more.

The incentive scheme launched in the US in August 2016, and has recently been renamed from Bing Rewards to Microsoft Rewards. The scheme also rewards users with additional points if they make use of the Microsoft Edge web browser or use the Bing app to search on mobile, as well as occasionally introducing quizzes or games that can be used to earn bonus points.

Among the rewards available for users are gift cards, Xbox games, Skype credit, entries into giveaway competitions and even discounts on hardware purchased from Microsoft. Each standard search earns users 3 points, with a maximum of 30 points earnable every day. If users manage to hit 500 points earned in a single month, they unlock a second level of rewards where the maximum daily amount is boosted to 150 points a day.

The UK is the first market outside of the US to have Microsoft Rewards become available, but the company has plans to launch the scheme in France, Germany and Canada. Whether the marketing method will prove successful in getting users to permanently switch to Bing, and therefore strengthening its own ad operation, will remain to be seen.