When doing a quick search for a query, you whip out yourtop-of-the-line 5G phone, launch your browser, and type the question. And you get the answer pretty much instantly. While you don’t pay much attention to it, a search engine behind the scenes pulls up the results you see and in the order they’re arranged.
The most popular of these search engines are Google and Microsoft Bing. However, Google commands the lion’s share of the market compared to Bing. Microsoft has been trying to get back some of that juicy traffic from Google, which led to the launch of Microsoft Rewards (formerly called Bing Rewards), and this article tells you everything you need to know about it.
What is the Bing Rewards Program?
Microsoft launched Bing Rewards, its loyalty program, in September 2010 to credit users through regular Bing searches and special promotions. These credits could then be redeemed for several rewards. The program was initially limited to participants who downloaded and used the Bing Bar for Internet Explorer before it was made to work with all desktop browsers. The program was rebranded to Microsoft Rewards in 2016 with a few changes. With the brief history lesson out of the way, let’s look at how you can make money with the program.
How can you make money with Microsoft Rewards?
You can make money with Microsoft Rewards in several ways. Here are some of them.
1. Search with Bing
Google is the most used search engine in the world, capturing a whopping 80% market share. Bing.com is its closest competitor, with only about 15% of the market. Microsoft will probably like to capture some of Google’s market share for itself. One of the ways it hopes to do that is by offering users rewards for browsing with the Bing search engine.
The program allows you to earn three points per search for 50 daily points for level 1 users and 250 points for level 2. In addition, if you search using Edge, you get an extra 5 points per day for level 1 and 20 daily points for level 2.
Even if you use Chrome or any other browser, you’ll get points as long as you search via the Bing search engine. Ensure you’re signed in to your Microsoft account, or your searches will not count. If you want to level up faster, use Bing on the Microsoft Edge browser. You’ll also earn from searches made using the Bing engine in Cortana from the Windows 10 Search Box.
The maximum number of points allocated to Bing browsing is split between desktop and mobile devices, so you need to surf the web on both platforms. For mobile, you can earn on the Bing app, the Microsoft Edge app, or Microsoft’s Launcher app for Android.
Interestingly, mobile rewards are not as widely available as desktop rewards. If you happen to be in a region where mobile rewards are not supported, you don’t get points for mobile searches. For example, level 1 allows you to earn up to 50 daily search points, of which 30 are allocated to desktop and 20 to mobile. You only get the 30 for desktop searches if you’re in an unsupported location. This also affects the Microsoft Edge bonus. So, you only get three additional daily points for using the company’s default browser instead of the usual five.
2. Complete fun offers
Microsoft’s Earn page allows you to get more points by performing simple preset tasks. You can earn from taking quizzes, polls, and surveys, completing puzzles, answering trivia questions, and more. You get 5 or 10 points for each activity, and completing all of them gives you more than 100 points. The offers are updated daily, meaning you can rack up the points in a short time.
Another fun activity you can complete is daily sets. These are collections of activities where you can unlock more bonuses. Completing challenges from daily offers also creates streaks that offer more points the longer you play without breaking. For example, a three-day streak gives you 45 points, and the points keep increasing until you reach day 10, after which you get 150 points every 10 days from then onwards. Missing a day breaks your streak, and you’ll start over.
Unlike browsing the web and playing Xbox games, which you already do, completing fun offers is unique because you have to go out of your way to perform tasks you may not usually do. The selling point is that these tasks are usually fun and easy to complete. Whether setting a goal, taking a Microsoft Rewards tour, or doing an activity hunt to find hidden objects, you’ll finish them in no time. Plus, it’s a good way to de-stress after a long day.
3. Shop on the Microsoft Store
If you’re logged in to your Microsoft account, you’re able to earn points from shopping on the Microsoft Store from your Xbox, Windows PC, or online. You get a point for every dollar spent if you’re on level one and 10 points per dollar for level two. However, if you’re on level two, with an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Live Gold subscription, you get 20 points per dollar.
You get points from buying full games, on-demand Xbox One titles, arcade and indie games, game add-ons and season passes, apps, TV series, and more. You also earn from hardware purchases such as the Microsoft Surface PCs, but the earnings are limited to 1 point per dollar regardless of your tier. Point earnings are also capped for hardware purchases. It’s worth noting that your points are deducted if you return or cancel a purchase.
4. Earn points on Xbox
If you have an Xbox, you’re able to earn more points by completing several tasks. For starters, you can score points by playing free-to-play games and selecting new releases, renting TV series, and downloading new apps. If you have a Game Pass membership, you earn points by completing exclusive quests from the library. You can find quests in the Game Pass membership area of your Rewards account on the console.
Buying games on Xbox is another way to get points. You can receive up to 20 points for every dollar spent on eligible digital items from the Microsoft Store. Points count whether purchases are made directly on the Xbox console, onXbox.com, or viaMicrosoft.com.
Microsoft also offers monthly surveys on the Xbox, which you can complete to get points. You also get daily sets on the Xbox. If you don’t own an Xbox, this isn’t enough reason to get one. However, if you play games on the console regularly, you might as well cash in on the free rewards while doing so.
What about the Microsoft Rewards status levels?
Microsoft Rewards has two broad tiers, level 1 and level 2. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
This is the startup level for anyone signing up for Microsoft Rewards for the first time. You get a maximum of 50 points daily from searches (30 on desktop and 20 on mobile) alongside a 5-point bonus for using Microsoft Edge. You also only get 1 point per dollar spent on the Microsoft Store. If you think it’s not a lot, you’re right. Thankfully, there’s a level 2, and it’s easy to reach.
To reach level 2, you need to get a minimum of 500 points in one month. If you’re serious about the program, you should be able to do so in a few days. Level 2 offers up to 250 points daily (150 on desktop and 100 on mobile) for searches made on Bing and 20 bonus points for using Edge. Plus, you get 10 points per dollar spent on Microsoft’s store, discounts when redeeming points, and other exclusive offers. You’ll remain in level 2 if you make 100 or more monthly searches.
How to redeem Microsoft Rewards points
There is no point in earning Microsoft Rewards points or registering in the first place if you aren’t going to cash in on them. you’re able to exchange your points for valuables in the Redeem tab on the Microsoft Rewards page. It’s worth noting that points can only be redeemed in the country they’re earned, and the available prizes depend on your location.
The program offers several rewards, which can be broadly grouped into gift cards, sweepstakes entries, and donations. If you have enough points, you’re able to redeem them for gift cards from several companies and services, including Amazon, Burger King, and Starbucks, or participate in sweepstakes for a chance to win elaborate prizes.
If you’re feeling generous, you may donate points to charity. Microsoft automatically converts your points to cash donations for the organization of your choice. However, you can only choose an organization from the options provided. Notable organizations include the Nature Conservancy, Teach for America, and the Trevor Project.
How much can you make with Microsoft Rewards?
If your goal is to make enough money to pay bills, quit your job, and take weekend trips to Hawaii, Microsoft Rewards won’t help you do that. However, if you want to make some free money and win a few rewards by doing what you already do, keep reading.
You need about 5,000 points to redeem a $5 gift card, which comes to about $0.001 per point. But how quickly can you earn 5,000 points? Assuming you’re on level 2, you’re able to earn 250 points daily from completing searches alone. That amounts to 7,500 points per month and 90,000 points yearly. This amounts to $90 worth of rewards in a year.
Once you factor in daily sets, extra activities, shopping points, and Xbox earnings, you’ll get upwards of $100 in yearly rewards. Again, you won’t achieve financial freedom, but you’ll be able to treat yourself to something nice from a featured store occasionally.
Does Google have something like Microsoft Rewards?
Google doesn’t have an equivalent for Microsoft Rewards, and it doesn’t need to. The entire premise of the program is to make Microsoft’s products and services, especially Bing and Edge, more appealing to users.
From the statistics we shared earlier in the article, Google Search commands a massive 80% of the search market compared to Microsoft’s 15%. If anything, so many people already use Google’s search engine. Perhaps, if Microsoft manages to chip away at a reasonable chunk of the market, Google might consider implementing something similar.
Is it worth using Bing over Google Search?
Only Microsoft offers ways to earn using its browser and search engine, so the company takes the cake on that one. But what about the actual services? Is Bing good enough to make you consider switching? After all, getting useful search engine result page (SERP) results is the main reason for browsing. Rewards are secondary.
Microsoft Bing has come a long way and is as good as Google with general searches. It handles most queries you throw at it without issues. Both engines also have clean interfaces that allow you to focus on what’s important. Things look a bit different once you step out of searches and UIs.
Bing has the upper hand when it comes to image searches. It offers chips at the top of the page for customizing queries even more. The chips are also present in video searches. However, because of the grid style of results, you only see thumbnails and titles, unlike Google’s list view, which shows video descriptions.
The short of it is that Bing is quite good and offers a solid experience for most users. Add to that the recent integration of ChatGPT and Microsoft Rewards, and it might be worth it to ditch Google for Bing.
Microsoft Rewards: should you switch?
The selling point of the Microsoft rewards program is that you’re getting paid to do things you already do, but you need to do them using Microsoft’s products. The main challenge would be ditching Google. If you can look past that, the switch might be worth it.
As the saying goes, old habits die hard. If you’re still a staunch Google advocate, follow our guide tomake it your default search engine on any browser.
