Ask: The Little Search Engine That Couldn’t
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 6, 2008 at 5:27 AM PT
With a 4.8 percent share of the search market, according to comScore, Ask has long been the inveterate fourth-place contestant in a sector overwhelmingly dominated by Google (GOOG). And try as it might–with both redesigns and ad campaigns–the company just can’t seem to build any audience beyond that. So there’s little reason to believe that Ask’s latest redesign–its third in as many years and the 11th since it first launched–won’t be as ineffective as those that have gone before it.
The new Ask is faster than its predecessor. Its search results are more relevant and sharpened by structured data (TV listings, etc.) where available. And the little search engine that couldn’t is still using semantic technology to interpret and answer questions put to it by users. “To call it an all-new Ask is wrong; it’s an evolution of Ask,” said Barry Diller, CEO of Ask parent IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI). “I think it’s going to help us primarily in [visitor] retention and frequency. That is really its goal.”
But while it might appeal to some, Ask’s latest iteration isn’t likely to make much of a difference in the brutish battle for search engine market share. But then Ask doesn’t need much, does it? The search business is enormously profitable. As Microsoft’s (MSFT) Don Dodge once noted, every market-share point in search is worth a billion dollars or more. So if Ask manages to boost its share of all searches even slightly, it’s a success. “Search revenue for us is very profitable and it’s certainly growing,” said Diller. “Does it matter whether or not we take big chunks of…market share? No. Would we like and hope to? Yes.”
Comments
I am a bit of a search nerd, so I am interested in testing out Asks new features. I agree that it is unlikely to move the needle much. During the past year or two, I actually have found Ask often provides the best results vs competition, especially its Blog search. That said, I still have the Google toolbar loaded on every computer I use thus making it my default.
Posted by Dominic Pannone at October 6th, 2008 at 9:04 amI don’t understand search technology that in theory would know more about one particular topic. I can figure out if I like Google, Ask, or Yahoo, but I have my doubts about these search robots that actually do anything.
Posted by terri boothe at October 6th, 2008 at 9:21 amHow’s this for a reason? Today I removed ALL things Google based from my PC. Why?
I got tired of the big-brother, COMPLETELY liberal news and other bents, and just quit. I got the idea from a friend, who did the same.
Feels good. Maybe ASK and other orgs should start catering to those of us in America who still work hard and believe in this country. A different take, but ASK has another dedicated user
Posted by Don Zuckerman at October 6th, 2008 at 11:15 am