The Ask.com Blog

Treasure Hunted

In case you missed it -- last night was the Treasure Hunter's finale.

Ask.com would like to congratulate the Genius Team on winning the treasure, which amounted to 3 million dollars.

We really enjoyed being the official search engine for the show, and we're glad that our search engine and tools were there to help the contestants throughout its entirety - both on-air and in the online game.

For more on Treasure Hunters: Go to NBC.com | Search on Ask.com

Ask.com Goes to the Movies and Watches Some TV

Ask.com has been offering our users a number of Smart Answers with film information (awards, bios, and more) since 2003. Now, not only do we offer film info but also DVD and television data.

Here's a quick look at some of what we currently offer.

Movies in General

One easy way to explore the world of film is simply to type movies into Ask.com

At the top of the results page you'll find our general Movie Smart Answer. In it, we provide three quick search tool options that allow you to query specialty databases which contain a ton of information. We also offer direct links to Current Releases, Upcoming Releases, Top Box Office rankings, and Top DVDs. Pretty handy.

Why Don't You Just Tell Us The Name of the Movie You'd Like To See?

If you know the title of the movie you want to go see, for example searching for Talladega Nights, a Smart Answer for the specific film appears at the top of our results page with an image of the movie poster, brief synopsis, MPAA rating, links to reviews and direct links to the trailer and official movie site. We offer a zipcode search tool that helps you quickly dive into where and when you can see it near you.

Of course, you can also always cut right to the chase and search for the movie's title and the Zip Code to get the showtimes right at the top of the search page right from the get go. Our Movie Showtime Smart Answer see the other films playing at these Local theaters. When possible, we try to make going out to the movies even easier for you by providing direct links to buy tickets right within the Movie Showtimes Smart Answer.

Tip: Another neat feature Ask.com offers is disambiguation help if you enter the name of a city without a state and there is more than one city with that name. For example, this search for Talladega Nights, Springfield assumes Springfield, MA but also makes finding any other location named Springfield (Springfield, MO, IL, etc.) easily accessible via a pull-down menu.

Movie Smart Answers are not only limited to films that are currently showing in theaters. We also encompass most titles available on DVD. Here's an example for Citizen Kane.

For these types of films, we provide info about the DVD and a direct link to a massive set of reviews via the Movie Review Query Engine. Here's are two more examples. One for Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Rear Window and the other for Jaws. Wikipedia fans will be happy to learn that in some cases, Wikipedia entries are provided as Smart Answers for some films. Here are a couple of examples: Caddyshack or Anatomy of a Murder

Mad About Movies

Movie fans can quickly find Academy Award winners directly on results pages. Remember you don't need to ask your query in question format but if you do, that's not a problem.

For example, Academy Award Best director 1976 Best actor 1999 Oscar Best picture 1945

Second, we offer bios and other related links for some of Hollywood's greats. Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall , Judy Garland, Meryl Streep are among some of our more popular performers.

Tube Time

Similarly, we offer a large set of Smart Answers with info about for thousands of TV programs with links to episode guides, show overviews, and more.

For instance; Seinfeld, Entourage, Charmed, All in the Family, Carol Burnett Show

So, if it's movie showtimes, film reviews, award winners, or background about your favorite tv shows, Ask.com offers Smart Answers to make your entertainment time more enjoyable.

Have Fun and Enjoy Your Film or Show,
The Ask.com Smart Answers Team

Encore, Encore!

If you're a sports fan, you may have had your TV plate full this past weekend. Maybe you missed out on our debut? NBC will be offering two encore presentations of Treasure Hunters premiere episodes this Friday and Saturday at 8/7c. For a limited time, you can even watch it online. Get it while you can.

The Hunt is on!

Editorial note:
Ask.com is unable to confirm or deny that the hunt is on "like Donkey Dong"… you'll have to check it out and let us know.

Ask.com - The Official Search Engine of Treasure Hunters

Don't forget to watch Treasure Hunters, which besides being a new NBC "adventure/mystery reality tv" show debuting this weekend, incorporates the Ask.com search engine into the series. Ask.com is not only there to help contestants to solve clues quickly and move on to the next destination, we're also here to help you get to know the show and the teams and contestants.

If you like Amazing Race and trying to solve riddles and puzzles.

TV schedule: 2 Hour Series Premier, Sunday June 18th at 8/7c - Regular Night & Time, Mondays at 9/8c. Set your DVRs to "Fun" & enjoy the show!

P.S. Come back to our blog next week. We might even tell you what 96 means...

Who is Apostolos Gerasoulis?

Before yesterday, we doubt many of you ever found yourselves asking this question unless you saw his name on a business card or listed as a speaker at a search conference. All that's changed thanks to the brand new Ask.com TV spots. Instead of people behaving like monkeys, or talking monkeys, you will see a highly evolved human, Apostolos Gerasoulis featured in our new TV commercials.

We know him as "A.G." He is the co-creator of our ExpertRank technology, and he is doing an on-air demo of how Ask's tools work. Check them out and let us know what you think.

Get to know more about Apostolos:
* All About A.G.
* Apostolos's Photo Album

The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards

The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are happening tonight, and will boast a historic first.

This is the first year that an award will be presented for "original entertainment programming created specifically for non-traditional viewing platforms, including computers, mobile phones, iPods, PDAs and similar devices". While there certainly must be a better name for this category, we would like to congratulate all of the nominees and wish them luck tonight.

24: Conspiracy
Inspired by the hit television series “24”, 24: Conspiracy is a live action mobile drama created exclusively for mobile phones and launched in February 2005 on Verizon Wireless.

It’s Jerrytime!
An animated blog that chronicles the life and times of Jerry, a 40-something single guy.

Live 8 on AOL
On July 2, 2005, hundreds of top artist hit stages around the world in order to help raise awareness of global poverty. This service allowed users to choose which one of seven live feeds in order to experience the concerts as they took place.

mtvU Stand In
A series where pop culture icons turn up as substitute teachers giving college-level classes. These shorts premiere on Uber, mtvU’s broadband channel online at www.mtvU.com and soon after air to a national audience on mtvU.

Sophie Chase
Online series stars actress Kate Clarke and is directed by Chuck Bowman (“A-Team” “MacGyver”)

Stranger Adventures
An innovative on-line, interactive, storytelling adventure.

Does This Look Familiar?

The latest Ask.com commercial has been running on TV for about week or so now. Maybe you've seen it? If not, you're in luck. Some folks wrote in, requesting that we post it on the blog and to tell them the name of the elusive song that plays during it.

We live to give.

The song is Sentimental Lady by Bob Welch. Very catchy. The commercial is right here.
Let us know what you think.

Bigfoot

Please note: If you don't have it already, make sure to download the QuickTime Player.
You will not be able to view the TV spot without this player.

Ask In Primetime

As Barry points out, we have some new ads running on many of your favorite shows. For your viewing pleasure, they're posted below. The underlying theme is that search is still evolving and searchers are still evolving. The tools we've created at Ask that make searching better and faster are examples of that evolution. (So you should, like, try it out and see for yourself!)

Let us know what you think!

CAFÉ
In the midst of an Internet cafe where searchers have yet to evolve, one discovers Ask.com's unique tools starts remembering what it's like to feel human.

ANIMALS IN PANTS
A scientist using the Binoculars tool on Ask ponders the question of what separates man from beast...and gets some help from an unexpected source.