To stimulate use of Live Search, Microsoft rolled out (yet another) incentives-based program.

Under the game show-style slogan "Search a lot, earn a lot!", Microsoft promises to reward users with "tickets" or points for each search they run on Live. Tickets can be redeemed for prizes, like ringtones and frequent flier miles.

The SearchPerks program is incompatible with any browser besides Internet Explorer. And while the restriction may inconvenience some users, Internet Explorer still represents 60 percent of the browser market.

A max of 25 tickets can be earned per day, so it may take time to accumulate enough to win even small prizes. Someone would have to use Live Search at least 25 times per day, every day for seven months, to earn a wireless controller for xBox, for example.

People hoping to redeem tickets must wait until three weeks after the program ends — around May 2009, writes SearchEngineLand. Those that leave the program early lose their points.

One final clause: registration is limited to one million people in the US, which must sign up before the end of the year.

Microsoft has a long history of incentivizing use of Live Search. In May it introduced a Cashback program where users get cash back on items they find — and then purchase — off Live Search. It has also offered incentives to companies whose employees use the service at work.

Last year Live Search enjoyed a dramatic traffic surge when Live Search Club took off. The latter was a points-based gaming site where users could earn almost limitless points while solving puzzles that required running searches.

At one time, Google also tried enticing users with prizes: its Ultimate Search For Bourne and Da Vinci Code Quest campaigns both offered prizes through search-based games.

Google currently leads the US search market with about 63 percent of total share as of August. Yahoo comes in second with 19.6 percent of searchers; Microsoft is third with a paltry 8.3 percent.