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Jun. 5, 2007

Today, search engine company Ask.com has revealed an overhaul that includes a new user interface and a wider variety of content, including video search.

Ask.com's revamp is the latest in a series of moves undertaken by the company as it bids to remain a player in the search segment, dominated by Google and Yahoo, and is aimed largely at making search a more visual experience for its users.

With its new interface, users can choose from a dozen different skins to liven up the background of the search home page, and the overall design of the results page favors graphics over text. Ask CEO Jim Lanzone said "the end result will be a more pleasurable search experience, with users spending less time hunting for information." For example, users can preview sites returned in the results, listening to music clips, viewing video previews and learning more about a website in the results pages.

Lanzone added "on average, it takes people about four queries to find what they are searching for online. This is because search engines have forced people to wade through endless lists of links, and refine query after query, to find the right information."

Ask-3D seeks to reduce that process by "delivering the right information, from the deepest range of content, all on one clean and simple page."

Since it acquired the search engine two years ago for $1.85 billion, IAC has set out to revamp the site. It shortened the site's name from Ask Jeeves to Ask, and later jettisoned the butler icon that had become the site's mascot and marketing face for so many years.

Earlier in 2007, it made a bid to become a local search leader, tying Ask with other IAC properties, such as its ticket-selling and city-specific information sites. However, Ask.com still is largely viewed as a second-tier search player by most standards.

According to recent data from comScore, overall, Ask.com accounts for just about 5 percent of all U.S. searches, compared to 10 percent for Microsoft, 27 percent for Yahoo and almost 50 percent for Google.

Ask's revamp tries to infuse more fun into the search process, something that at least in theory could lead to users spending more time searching through the site. Results pages all look different, Ask said, thanks to a process it calls "morph" in which results are presented based on what the search engine thinks a user is seeking.

However, in most cases, textual results are listed first, but based on the query, video -- provided through a partnership with Blinkx -- music or image results may feature prominently on the first page of results. The results also offer one-click options for refining a search, using Ask's Zoom Search tool -- which the company said is already the most popular feature on Ask.com. The tool allows a user to narrow or expand the original search or to search for related terms, such as actor Johnny Depp.

While there are innovations in the way results are compiled and presented, the visual difference is what users will most notice and that difference could be enough to lure more users to try the search site, Sterling Market Intelligence Principal Analyst Greg Sterling said.

Sterling added "don't underestimate the power and lure of aesthetics," he said. "The fact that it's visually appealing makes it more fun to use."

Overall, Google has taken similar steps to combine search results, rather than relying on users to click on a vertical search tab, such as blogs or video, Sterling noted.

Ask's makeover highlights its advantage as a search alternative, search engine expert John Battelle said.

"This is Ask doing what only a fourth place player can do: Throwing caution to the wind and betting on a new interface," Battelle said. "This new approach is a significant departure from ten plus years of search interface."

Leaders such as Google or Yahoo may be more reluctant to diverge from what Battelle called the "10 blue links" approach to search results because it is working for them. "Ask is trying a pretty evolved approach," he added.

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Source: eCommerce Times