The Bing cashback program is coming to an end. The kickback scheme, which gave Web shoppers cash back on purchases from affiliated stores, will be discontinued at 9 PM PDT on July 30. Users of the scheme will have a further year to claim their cash.

The rewards were often generous, with some companies offering 30 percent or more for purchases made through the system, and more than 1,000 retailers were part of the program. In spite of this, however, Microsoft says that it "did not see the broad adoption [it] hoped for." Redmond says that shopping is still an important part of the searching experience, and is promising to provide new ways for merchants and advertisers to offer promotions through Bing. Details on these will emerge later in the year.

The cashback promotion seemed to be popular among system builders and TV buyers in the Ars forums, thanks to companies like Tiger Direct offering 10 percent cash back. However, it's likely that this never translated into regular Bing usage, with people using Bing for their purchases, but sticking with Google for everything else. If this is indeed the case, then the end of the programs is not altogether surprising.