The Ask.com Blog

The Year in Ask: 2007

A roller coaster of a year, all told, what with introducing a company-changing product (or two), some industry initiatives, and of course, some sort of Google thing. Plenty of great stuff to look back on. What sort of stuff, you might ask?

FEBRUARY

ASK CO-INTRODUCES SITEMAPS DISCOVERY

We got caught up in the robots.txt revolution side-by-side with Yahoo! and the Google.

ASK UK "INFORMATION REVOLUTION" CAMPAIGN SHAKES UP "SLEEP SEARCHERS" IN THE UK

Ask UK and Fallon took it to the streets of London with a secret, then not-so-secret viral campaign that resulted in one million new users in three months.

 

ASK MOBILE WINS TWO WEBBYS

We scored the Webby Award for best mobile site AND the People's Voice Webby in the Mobile category. Doug Leeds' five-word acceptance speech: "San Dimas Highschool Football RULES!"

ASK INTRODUCES ASK MOBILE GPS

The tangy wholesomeness of Ask Mobile met the great tastes of Citysearch, Evite, and even a GPS service. Mobilicious.

JUNE

ASK3D LAUNCHES

Our big moment of 2007--swapping out our previous results page design with a three-column triptych that nestles content and media results right in next to the blue links.

AUGUST

SES 2007 SAN JOSE

For SES in our backyard, we came out in force, with multiple speakers, a big ol' booth, a Jim Lanzone keynote interview and a party where someone's arm got broken. Or sprained, I forget. I liveblogged SES SJ 2007, as did, oh, everyone else there.

SES 2007 San Jose Day One, Two, Three.

ASK SCORES BIG IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The University of Michigan gave us top marks in their American Customer Satisfaction Index. Which ain't hay.

SEPTEMBER

ASK MAPS UK LAUNCHES

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On the plus side, The entire UK can now take advantage of our 3D-ified Maps & Directions. On the minus side, our London staff no longer has an excuse to be late for work.

NEW ASK.COM TV ADS

Proof that if you have a good product, all you need to do is show it at work. The Ron Popeil philosophy paid off with great response & word-of-mouth.

NOVEMBER:

ASK & GOOGLE SIGN MULTI-YEAR DEAL

We agreed to continue running Google Sponsored Listings on our network; in return, we opened up a briefcase the size of a couch and told Google, "Fill it." That's not how it happened but I like to think it was.

DECEMBER:

ASKERASER LAUNCHES

We announced our plans to do it back in July. And in December, we walked the walk and gave users control over their search privacy. A great way to round out the year.

Thanks to everyone for their support this year, and stick around--you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Ken Grobe
Product Content Manager
Ask.com

The Latest Ask.com Radio Ads

You didn't think we only did TV commercials, did you? Currently burning up the airwaves (did I just mix metaphors?) is the latest Ask.com radio campaign. As our Marketing department puts it, they "compliment the TV effort," and if you haven't heard the spots yet, here's my favorite:

"Pharma"

Have you heard the spots? Do you like them? Drop a comment into this post and let us know.

Ken Grobe
Product Content Manager
Ask.com

The Algorithm is On The Move

Ignorance is bliss.

If you get great search results, you don’t care why or how you got them.

But for more than 80% of searches, there can be more than one right answer. And even when there is one right answer, there’s more than one way of getting you there, understanding those results, or getting ideas for alternative searches. For these searches, the editorial voice of your search engine matters. Search isn’t the commodity it may, at times, seem to be.

In search, this voice is manifested in the form of an “algorithm,” a strange, funny, and--for most people--wholly unfamiliar term.

Many of you who read this blog already know what an algorithm is, and how it separates good searches from the better ones. But your friends probably don’t. Thanks to the work of the Ask marketing team and our new ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, however, that’s about to change.

You might know CPB for their superfun and standout ad campaigns for Volkswagen and Burger King (including my favorite, the Subservient Chicken viral).We've been working with them to create a campaign that champions "The Algorithm" and how it brings good search to life--from plain old “ten blue links” to popular, algorithm-driven features such as Smart Answers and Zoom related search.

No, the campaign won’t go into detail about how an algorithm actually works. We don’t want to make people’s heads explode. We just want them to know there’s something in there--think Intel Inside, Verizon’s Network, Dodge’s Hemi…heck, even VW’s Fahrvergnugen--that’s different and working to make search better for you.

You may have heard about our recent outdoor ads, which kicked off the campaign with some teaser billboards about the Algorithm. Soon, you'll start seeing our new TV spots in a
whole lot of places, from major networks to cable, from morning to prime time to late night.

So ready or not world, here comes the Algorithm, soon to take its rightful place as a household word, once and for all.

--Greg Ott
VP, Marketing
Ask.com

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

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.