Not-so-secret machinations

In tangent with PBL Media, Microsoft rolled out "Secret Search," a poker-style promotion where users win prizes for using Live Search. The effort is based in Australia.

Prizes include money, gift certificates, Compaq computers, JAMA pocket PCs, Canon digital cameras, a "secret" prize, and even iPods. (According to Electronista, the Zune is not currently available in Australia.)

Promotional efforts for Live Search generally revolve around rewarding users for using the service — a tactic that artificially inflates Microsoft's search traffic figures.

Last year it launched Live Search Club, where Live Search was embedded in a series of simple games that generate credits for users. To win more points, some players built bots to play the games for them, resulting in a marked rise in recordable search hits, according to Compete, which recorded a tenfold rise in Live Search use (three million visitors) from May to June.

Other attempts to drum up traffic on Live Search have included paying companies for using Live Search on the job, and — more recently — the formation of a US-based cashback program.