It’s a fascinating idea, Microsoft paying people to use their search offerings in the form of rebates on items they buy. But in many ways, there is the problem - it’s a great way to compete against Froogle (Google’s shopping engine). But explain to me how this is providing relevant, worthwhile results to the user again?

So gaining new users aside, what may very well happen is Microsoft creating a really great alternative to Adwords. Because clearly, if you can sustain such an effort with real purchases, instead of “relevant” clicks, everyone wins.

Despite this initial rebate effort being seen as a means of quick promotion for Live Search, I personally see its long term value being an alternative to Microsoft’s existing marketplace and Adwords currently provided by Google.

Think I am all wet? Hit the comments, set me straight.