News has reached the online industry today that search engine Ask.com will no longer compete in the internet search market and instead focus their efforts on the company’s core service of providing answers to questions. The move sees the cutting of 130 jobs, or about one third of their total work force.
It seems quite a turnaround for a company that little over 4 years ago set out to take on Google as a major competitor in the natural search sector, investing a lot of money in its attempts to do this. However, user statistics suggest the Interactive Corp-owned company never achieved more than a 2-4% market share.
One could argue that this will be music to Google’s ears, the news simply helping to solidify the search giant’s position as the number one search engine. Also with Google recently launching a whole series of features that advance their users’ experience, this position doesn’t look like being taken any time soon. The news may also have alarm bells ringing to others in the industry, as it shows just how much more is required to even try to seriously compete with Google.
As for the future of Ask.com themselves, reverting back to the question/answer business model they started out with (when under the original ‘AskJeeves’ moniker) could well be a shrewd move. It is a model they are well experienced in, and coupled with the financial savings they’ll be making, this concentration in one area will help them consolidate their strong position in this specific niche of the search market.
Rik
Web Developer
