When people need to look something up online, roughly 85% of them head straight to Google. It’s so ingrained that “Googling” has become a verb. But there are other choices — and some will actually reward you for using them.
Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, holds just under 10% of the market. If you make the switch, you’ll discover appealing perks. Through Microsoft Rewards, you collect points for searching that can be exchanged for gift cards.
Let’s step away from Google for a moment and explore Bing to learn how to cash in on rewards from popular brands like the Microsoft Store, Starbucks, Amazon and Grubhub.
What Is Microsoft Rewards?
Microsoft Rewards is Microsoft’s loyalty program that gives perks for using services such as Bing or the Microsoft Edge browser. As you use qualifying Microsoft products, you accumulate points that can be redeemed for a variety of rewards. We’re big fans of the gift card options, which include choices like:
- Microsoft Store
- Xbox Games
- Starbucks
- Burger King
- Domino’s
- Sephora
- Target
- Walmart
- Hulu
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- Amazon.com
- REI
- Taco Bell
- Grubhub
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats
- Spotify
If gift cards aren’t what you want, you can use points to enter sweepstakes for bigger prizes like an Xbox Series X, a Microsoft Surface Pro, a $5,000 Amazon gift card or even an opportunity to meet WNBA player Rhyne Howard. You can also convert points into charitable donations if you’d rather give back.
How to Accumulate Microsoft Rewards Points
Collecting points through Microsoft Rewards is straightforward. Visit Bing.com and sign in with a Microsoft account by clicking the profile icon in the top-right corner.
Once signed in, you’ll see an award icon across the top of the Bing homepage, flanked by your profile and a notifications icon. The award icon shows your current point total and how near you are to your next milestone.
Click that award icon to view a breakdown of earned points and extra activities that can boost your balance. You can earn up to 150 points per day using Bing on a desktop, 100 points per day on a mobile device, and 20 points for using the Microsoft Edge browser.
In our testing, each web search earned about five points. If you’re a student or someone who frequently researches online, points can add up quickly.
We suggest trying the extra daily tasks available via the award icon. Visit your dashboard to see all the daily activities. We easily earned nearly 150 bonus points by clicking links and completing short quizzes — no email needed.
How to Redeem Microsoft Rewards Points
There’s little point in collecting Microsoft Rewards points if you never spend them. Go to your Rewards Dashboard and click the Redeem tab to trade points for prizes — much like cashing tickets at an arcade.
We found three main redemption options: gift cards, sweepstakes and donations. Gift cards let you swap points for vouchers to favorite retailers or restaurants (free coffee, anyone?). Many $5 gift cards cost about 5,000 points and can be earned after a few weeks of routine searching.
You can also use points to enter sweepstakes for bigger rewards.
Donating is a third path for those inclined to give. Points can be converted by Microsoft into monetary donations for charities like Teach for America, The Nature Conservancy, The Trevor Project and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
If you’d like to automate giving, visit the Give with Bing page to have points donated automatically. Bing can even help create free promotional materials if you’re supporting a cause.
Is Bing a Better Option Than Google?
If you’ve seen Bing ads, you might have wondered whether it’s a real alternative to Google. Microsoft Rewards is a persuasive incentive to try Bing, but users are likely to stick around only if the search results are solid.
From our side-by-side testing, Google and Bing perform similarly for general searches. Google often pulls ahead for very niche queries, but both offer a reliable everyday search experience for most users.
Microsoft Rewards may be a compelling reason to switch and earn points. You probably won’t regret trying it — we particularly enjoy Bing’s daily background image, which is a nicer visual than Google’s plain homepage.
If you want to compare results for specific searches, check out sites like bvsg.org, which show what each search engine returns for a given query. The outcomes can be surprising.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Using Bing to search is the easiest route to rack up Microsoft Rewards points. Make sure you’re signed into your Microsoft account on the Bing homepage and start searching. You can earn up to 150 points per day on desktop and up to 100 points per day on mobile.
Yes — Microsoft Rewards gives you free items such as gift cards to popular retailers, restaurants, the Microsoft Store and more. Microsoft monetizes searches in a similar way to other search engines and shares a portion of that revenue through rewards.
While logged into your Microsoft account, check your points on the Bing homepage by looking for the rewards icon; the number beside it shows your balance. You can also view details on the Microsoft Rewards Dashboard.
Microsoft Rewards, which awards points and prizes for using Bing, can be worthwhile. We found Bing’s search results comparable to Google’s. Try it yourself to see whether the rewards make it worthwhile.
You can earn Robux for Roblox during limited promotions. Right now Microsoft is offering a deal where you can get a 100 Robux digital card by joining Microsoft Rewards and searching with Bing via Microsoft Edge for five days.
There isn’t a standalone Microsoft Rewards app, but you can earn points and monitor your status through the Bing app for Android and iOS. If you want to accumulate points quickly, keeping the app on your phone is useful.
Daniel Ripley is a senior writer with Savinly covering technology.
