BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft is attempting to gain a larger percent of the search engine market with a new program that rewards corporate clients whose employees use Live Search instead of other search engines, according to a post on John Battelle's Searchblog.

    Microsoft has confirmed the existence of the program, which includes plans to share Live Search-related profits with humanitarian organizations.

    "Currently, we are conducting a trial program through which Microsoft is providing service or training credits to a select number of enterprise customers based on the number of Web search queries conducted by their employees via Live Search," Windows Live spokeswoman Whitney Burk said in a statement.

    "These customers, in turn, are providing valuable feedback to Microsoft on the use of Web search in an enterprise environment," Burk added. "As search evolves into more of a productivity tool, and revenue sharing becomes more commonplace across the industry, we are engaging in mutually beneficial partnerships such as this and our recently announced deal with Lenovo to more easily enable customers to choose Live Search."

    As John Battelle explains on his blog, companies can get from 2 U.S. dollars to 10 dollars per computer annually, plus a 25,000 dollar "enrollment credit."

    Battelle provided details about how a large company might promote Microsoft Service Credits for Web Search to its employees. There are three levels of promotions from low to high and the companies may use promotions as "In-house training session on ¡®how to get the most from web search¡¯ using Windows Live Search," or "Set Homepage to Live Search," and even "Email message of encouragement from CEO."

    Microsoft also announced its humanitarian intentions about Live Search and its other popular application, MSN Messenger. To help children in need, try Live Search on one of MS's "Click for cause" sites, thus adding more money to Microsoft¡¯donation. Each search at click4thecause.live.com results in a financial donation from Microsoft to provide help with education programs to the refugee kids around the globe.

    The two organizations Microsoft is currently working with in its humanitarian programs are ninemillion.org and Team Seattle. Ninemillion.org is a United Nations led campaign providing education and sports programs for nine million refugee youth around the world, and Team Seattle is the most successful motorsports charity in the U.S., racing to benefit Seattle's Children's Hospital.

    Lenovo and Microsoft recently announced an agreement to pre-load Windows Live services on Lenovo PCs sold worldwide including ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre desktops and Lenovo-branded PCs. In the coming weeks, Lenovo will be the first PC maker to provide its customers worldwide with immediate access to the Microsoft Live.com portal and Windows Live Toolbar.

    (Agencies)