Frequently Asked Questions

General Information
Tickets
Trouble Shooting
1. What do I do if I do not receive my Ticket redemption instructions e-mail?
Promotion Information

I. General Information

1. What is the SearchPerks! promotion?

The SearchPerks! promotion allows us to reward users for their Web searches (within Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day), and it helps us improve the search experience. As you use our search engine over the course of the promotion, we hope to introduce you to the many features that Live Search has to offer. In return for participating in the promotion, you’ll accumulate tickets that can be redeemed for cool prizes.

2. How does SearchPerks! work?

Participation in the promotion is limited to the first 1,000,000 respondents before December 31, 2008. Promotion valid only for legal residents in the 50 United States and Washington, D.C., who are at least 13 years of age, have a valid Windows Live ID, are accepted to participate in the program and participate in the program until its completion on April 15, 2009. Participation is subject to the SearchPerks! promotion terms and conditions as listed on the download page of our sign-up process. After the completion of the promotion, each participant who completed the promotion will receive one ticket for each online search that the participant conducted during the promotion within Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day. During the promotion there may be opportunities to receive additional tickets which will be provided after completion of the promotion. Claiming and redemption of the tickets is subject to additional terms and conditions. The promotion constitutes an “Activity” under those terms and conditions. Approximately three weeks after SearchPerks! ends on April 15, 2009, participants who complete the promotion will receive by email information on how to redeem their tickets. Limit one trial membership per person. You must claim your tickets no later than October 15, 2009. Once tickets are claimed they are subject to expiration pursuant to the additional terms and conditions.

3. When does the SearchPerks! promotion end?

Registration for the SearchPerks! promotion closes December 31, 2008, and the SearchPerks! promotion ends on April 15, 2009.

4. What is the Perk Counter, and what does it do?

In order to reward you for the Web searches you do using Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day, you’ll need to download the Perk Counter. The Perk Counter is a piece of software that counts the number of Web searches you do each day on different search engines; the types of searches you complete, such as for news, images or shopping, etc.; and the number of online ads you click on. It also sends which search toolbars, if any, are installed on the computer. The Perk Counter doesn’t record the search terms you use, which websites you visit or the content of the ads you click on. The Perk Counter will send your search data to Microsoft on a daily basis. If the search data doesn’t get sent, the Perk Counter will try to resend. The Perk Counter data will be used for the SearchPerks! promotion and will not be associated with other personal information Microsoft may have collected; and we won’t share any information with third parties.

5. What is required of me to participate in the promotion?

You’ll need to:

Join the SearchPerks! promotion before December 31, 2008
Read and accept the Terms and Conditions
Have cookies enabled
Be running Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
Be running Windows XP or Windows Vista
Download the Perk Counter software
Remain in the SearchPerks! promotion until its end date, which is April 15, 2009
Meet the system requirements for the Live Search Club.
Agree to the Live Search Club terms and conditions.
About three weeks after the SearchPerks! promotion ends on April 15, 2009, look for an e-mail from Microsoft, which will include ticket redemption instructions. The e-mail will direct you to the Live Search Club website to initiate your account in order to redeem your tickets. If you wish to join the Live Search Club now, sign-up instructions can be found here.

6. Who can I contact if I have questions or want more information?

Please contact us at sperks@microsoft.com for more information about the SearchPerks! promotion.

7. What additional communications will I receive as a result of participating in the SearchPerks! promotion?

As a part of joining the promotion, you may receive periodic emails about SearchPerks! until the promotion ends April 15, 2009. These email updates will provide important information about the SearchPerks! promotion. If you do not wish to receive email updates from SearchPerks!, please click here. Unsubscribing to email updates does not apply to SearchPerks! system-generated emails such as ticket redemption emails.

8. How to I stop receiving SearchPerks! email updates?

II. Tickets

1. How do I accumulate tickets?

First, you’ll join the SearchPerks! promotion and download the Perk Counter. If you complete the promotion, you will accumulate a ticket for each Web search you do using Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day during the promotion. If you leave the promotion prior to its conclusion on April 15, 2009, you will not receive any of the tickets.

2. How will I know how many searches I’ve done?

The Perk Counter, which users must download in order to participate in the SearchPerks! promotion, will appear in your browser and show the number of searches you’ve done using Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day.

3. What can I redeem the tickets I accumulate for?

The tickets you accumulate for completing the SearchPerks! promotion can be redeemed for prizes such as ringtones, T-shirts, music downloads, charity donations and more. Check out the kinds of prizes you can choose for the tickets you earn. These prizes are representative of the types of prizes that are available for this promotion. Actual prizes may differ. Prizes are subject to availability at the time of redemption. There may be a limited number of a particular prize; those prizes will be provided on a first-come first served basis.

4. When will I get the tickets I’ve accumulated by completing the SearchPerks! promotion?

About three weeks after the SearchPerks! promotion ends on April 15, 2009, participants who have completed the SearchPerks! promotion will receive an email with instructions on how to redeem their tickets.

5. How long are the tickets good for?

You must claim your tickets pursuant to the instructions you receive through email no later than October 15, 2009. Once tickets are claimed at the Live Search Club they are subject to expiration pursuant to the additional terms and conditions.

6. How do I qualify to redeem the tickets I accumulate during the SearchPerks! promotion?

You’ll need to:

Join the SearchPerks! promotion before December 31, 2008
Remain in the SearchPerks! promotion until its end date, which is April 15, 2009
Meet the system requirements for the Live Search Club.
Agree to the Live Search Club terms and conditions.
About three weeks after the SearchPerks! promotion ends on April 15, 2009, look for an e-mail from Microsoft, which will include ticket redemption instructions. The e-mail will direct you to the Live Search Club Web site to initiate your account, and sign-up instructions can be found here.

7. What is the maximum number of tickets I can accumulate daily?

You can accumulate a maximum of 25 tickets per day for searches done using Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day during the SearchPerks! promotion. During the promotion there may be opportunities to receive additional tickets as determined by Microsoft. Any additional tickets earned will also be provided after completion of the promotion.

8. What searches can I accumulate tickets for?

You can accumulate one (1) ticket for each online search you do using Internet Explorer Web browser, version 6.0 or higher, on Microsoft’s Windows Live, MSN or Live Search properties, excluding searches within the Live Search Club and the Live Search Club toolbar, located at http://club.live.com; Search and Give and any Search and Give toolbars, located at www.searchandgive.com; Live Search Maps located at http://maps.live.com and MSN Video site searches located at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx, up to a maximum of 25 tickets per day. If you leave the promotion prior to its conclusion, you won’t receive any of the tickets.

9. Do I get any of my initial tickets if I leave the SearchPerks! promotion early?

Tickets are only awarded to participants who remain in the SearchPerks! promotion through its end date on April 15, 2009. If you stop participating in the SearchPerks! promotion before the promotion ends on April 15, 2009, you will become ineligible to receive any tickets you’ve accumulated.

III. Trouble Shooting

1. What do I do if I do not receive my Ticket redemption instructions e-mail?

Is it three weeks past the end of your SearchPerks! promotion, which concluded on April 15, 2009? If so, please check the "Junk" folder of the email account used to join the SearchPerks! promotion. If you do not find it there, please contact us at sperks@microsoft.com sperks@microsoft.com.

IV. Promotion Information

1. How do I stop participating in the SearchPerks! promotion?

If you no longer wish to participate, you can stop participating in the promotion at any time. Please note: if you stop participating in the SearchPerks! promotion before the promotion ends on April 15, 2009, you will become ineligible to receive any tickets you’ve accumulated. To stop participating in the SearchPerks! promotion, click here. Just remember, once you leave the promotion, you won’t be able to re-join the SearchPerks! promotion.

2. How are cookies used in the promotion?

Cookies are used to enable the registration process between the Perk Counter and the promotion. Without the registration process, it’s not possible to count your searches and reward you. The Perk Counter data will not be associated with other personal information Microsoft may have collected.

3. Will the Perk Counter collect any personal information?

No, the Perk Counter will not send any personal information or website addresses to Microsoft, and no information outside of the search data is included in the reports. The Perk Counter data will not be associated with other personal information Microsoft may have collected.

4. What happens to the Perk Counter when the promotion ends?

The Perk Counter will stop tabulating your searches on April 15, 2009, and your final search data will be sent to Microsoft shortly thereafter.

5. How do I uninstall the Perk Counter?

After the SearchPerks! promotion ends 4/15/2009, if you use Windows XP, the Perk Counter software should automatically uninstall itself from your computer. If you'd like to uninstall Perk Counter manually, or if you use Windows Vista, please follow these simple steps:

Go to Start, Control Panel, and select Add/Remove Programs or Uninstall a Program
Find SearchPerks! Perk Counter
Click Remove or Uninstall

If you don't see the SearchPerks! Perk Counter in the Installed Programs list, it has already been removed from your computer.