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Microsoft has acquired Jellyfish.com, a shopping search engine that shares its revenue from referred purchases with its users.

Microsoft Reels In Jellyfish

"We only have one question for you: Why would you ever buy anywhere else?" Jellyfish asks in its About page. Microsoft must have decided the only way to answer that question was to buy the company asking it.

Microsoft's Live Search blog announced the acquisition. They cited the innovative work Jellyfish has performed with comparative shopping engines, and how their product will be incorporated into the shopping efforts on Live Search.

Jellyfish shares at least half of each dollar they make on a sale performed through their site. Customers can sign up for a free membership to participate in the cash-back program.

That cash-back feature, which applies to most but not all of the merchants participating in Jellyfish, sets it apart from competing shopping engines. Since this is cost per action (CPA) revenue, the dollars can add up fast for active shoppers.

If Microsoft refrains from messing with that cash-back feature, they will have a real differentiator from what Yahoo and Google offer with their product searches. It's a true competitive edge that people can understand easily - shopping through Live Search and Jellyfish equals money back.