First there was CashBack and now Microsoft has a new program (with a catch) in an effort to entice users to do their searching in Live Search.

SearchPerks is a rewards program similar to frequent flyer points except rather than earning points for flying you earn points for searching. The program rewards searchers with tickets every time they use Live Search, with a maximum of 25 tickets per day. Searchers can then redeem these tickets for prizes.

Here’s the catch though… in order to be a part of this program you must use Internet Explorer (IE), no Firefox or Google Chrome. It seems interesting that this Microsoft program will only operate in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Microsoft’s trick to make you use the program in IE, is so you can view your ticket tally in the built in toolbar.

This new program begs the question, is Microsoft getting so desperate to catch up to Google in search that they need to practically pay searchers to use their search engine?

Well, whatever the answer is, this is certainly nothing but good news for searchers. So if you are interested in signing up for this program, make sure you do so before the deadline of December 31 2008.