Microsoft has tried almost everything to get more people to pick its search site over Google, without much luck. So maybe a little cash will do the trick.

A screenshot of the Live Search cashback site.

That is the idea behind a new Microsoft program that will return money to online users who find and buy selected products through its Live Search engine. It’s an unusual move that illustrates the lengths to which the Redmond company is willing to go in its struggle to gain ground on the Internet search king.

Microsoft’s “Live Search cashback” site, set to be unveiled Wednesday, promises to pay back a portion of the purchase price — ranging from about 2 percent to more than 30 percent — to people who use it to find designated products and buy them online from participating retailers.

The company has signed up a long list of merchants to participate in the program - including the online sites of large retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Sears, Home Depot, J&R Electronics, Office Depot and others.

The company is expected to unveil the Live Search cashback program at a conference in Redmond where Bill Gates will be speaking to online advertisers. Microsoft last weekend said there would be a major search announcement but declined to provide specifics. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment Tuesday evening.

However, the Seattle P-I discovered an informational portion of the Live Search cashback online site — spelling out the new program in detail — that was publicly accessible as of Tuesday.

One snippet on the site also makes reference to moving a user’s “cashback and payment service from Jellyfish to Live Search.” Jellyfish Group is a U.K.-based search advertising firm that specializes in a type of payment model for advertisers that is similar to the one the new Microsoft service will use.

The nature of Jellyfish’s involvement in the initiative wasn’t clear as of Tuesday evening. Microsoft has been making a series of acquisitions in an effort to bolster its online efforts.

A list of frequently asked questions on the Microsoft site includes one that many potential users will no doubt ask: “Why are you paying me cashback?”

Answer: “We want to earn your loyalty and reward it with cashback savings for your everyday online shopping. We are ‘The Search That Pays You Back’!”

Cashback programs have been tried by smaller search engines, with mixed results. Because of Microsoft’s big online presence, its new initiative could get lots of attention in the industry and among consumers.

“Assuming that the rebate amounts are enough to be appealing to people, which it sounds like they are, that definitely could attract a fair number of consumers,” said industry analyst Van Baker, a Gartner Inc. research vice president, when the site was described to him. “But what they may do is just go to that site when they’re thinking about buying something, and use Google the rest of the time.”

It’s not clear how much money Microsoft has allocated to the cashback program, or how long it is scheduled to last.

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