Ask.com’s Latest Query: Wanna Buy a Search Engine?
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 28, 2009 at 3:00 AM PT
Well, there it is. Barry Diller would rather sell off IAC’s Ask.com search engine than brave a fiercely competitive market with a property whose future he describes as “speculative.”
And speculative is an apt word for it. With just four percent share of the search market, according to comScore (SCOR), Ask has long been the inveterate fourth-place player in a contest increasingly dominated by Google (GOOG). And though it has certainly tried, Ask just can’t seem to make any headway. It isn’t fighting a losing battle, it’s fighting one that was lost long ago. No surprise then to hear that Diller is tiring of it.
Asked during an earnings call Tuesday if IAC (IACI) would consider selling the search engine, Diller said it most certainly would. “We’ve been asked a lot whether we’re open to consolidating transactions in the area of search. The answer is yes,” he said. “And, it is unlikely that we would be the consolidator.”
Obviously.
So Ask is for sale. The question now is who wants it?
