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.”

The third round of presentations and expert reviews comes off more as a series of infomercials than evaluations. Fitting, I suppose, since as panelist judge Ron Conway notes, “M&A is the most vibrant liquidity path today.” All these presenters are likely looking to be acquired.

Paucity of hard questions from panel, although Don Dodge (once of Napster) does pose the copyright violation question to a MusicShake, a venture that seems destined to run afoul of copyright law.

Interesting. Conference organizer Mike Arrington comments on the softball questions being asked and puts a harder question of his own to Flock, noting that the social Web browser, which has been in development for years, has only launched its 1.0 version today. Why should someone who uses a browser as well-supported as Firefox switch to Flock, which hasn’t proved its reliability? Can the community depend on support and regular updates? CEO Shawn Hardin says yes, rattles something off about the company’s commitment to its software.

(Wondering now if conference might be more effective presented in a “Gong Show” format. Expert panelists scrawling their scores and interpretive drawings on oversized white notecards, with a big ‘ol gong behind them just waiting to be struck. Rip Taylor and Yossi Vardi. Onstage. Together. Agh. My head hurts.)

Regardless, Microsoft’s not sweating it a bit. “We’re happy with the price we paid. We believe it’s exactly the right company to buy, so we’re willing to pay the value we are paying today,” said company CFO Chris Liddell during a call with analysts today. “We will use the strength of our balance sheet when we think it’s necessary to drive growth going forward. This deal takes our advertising business to a new level. This allows us to take a bigger piece of that $40 billion pie that is still growing.”