It's too early to say whether it was Live Cashback that did wonders for Microsoft's search ranking in June this year, but according to the latest figures released by comScore, Microsoft searches went up 1 billion, the equivalent of 15% above last month.

Google remained the incontestable leader on the U.S. core search market, with 61.5 percent of the searches conducted, down 0.3 percent from May. Out of the total 11.5 billion searches conducted last month, Google Sites handled 7 billion core searches, up 6 percent from last month.

Following Google at a significant distance was of course Yahoo!, which went up 0.3 percent from 20.6 percent one month earlier. Yahoo! Sites concentrated 2.4 billion searches, managing a 9 percent increase compared to the previous month.

Microsoft Sites came third in the U.S. core search market, capturing 9.2 percent, up from 8.5 percent in May, and went up 15 percent in search volume compared to May, to 1 billion.

Ask Network and AOL LLC came fourth and fifth, with 4.3 and 4.1 respectively of the searches conducted. Out of the 11.5 billion searches, Ask Network managed a 3 percent increase compared to last month, while AOL LLC went down 3 percents.

In terms of U.S. expanded search rankings, comScores' report revealed that Google Sites continued to lead with 9.6 billion searches, which represents a 9 percent increase compared to May, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.6 billion searches, up 8 percent from May, and Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion, up 14 percent from May.

It's still hard to tell whether it was Live Cashback that revitalized Microsoft's search last month, but we can assume it had something to do with it.

Microsoft Live Cash Back is based on the technology acquired by Microsoft in October 2007, when the company bought the comparison shopping site Jellyfish.

For customers, this means they’ll have 10 million products to choose from, provided by a total of 700 merchants, including 13 of the top 40 retailers in the U.S., and they’ll get a nice prize from Microsoft, ranging from 2 to 30 percent in cash rebates.

The service practically rewards its search-and-buy addicts; it’s good for advertisers too, and most importantly, as Gates said, it gives consumers “a new way to stretch their dollars.”