Ask.Com's New Look Competes Well With Google

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Ask Jeeves has been overhauled and renamed Ask.com. The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg tested the new site against Google and found that Ask.com holds its own and even beats the search champ in some cases. 'It has some very nice features Google lacks, including previews of the sites it finds, an easy way to narrow or broaden your search results, and frequent top-of-the-screen answers that lead you directly to core information,' Mossberg writes."

They need to do a lot better than Google...

[g253]

When people started using Google instead of Altavista or Yahoo, it was IMHO because Google was better than Yahoo and Altavista was selling out and turning into sheer crap. If Ask wants to grab some market share, it will not do to be as good as Google or to offer a couple of extra nice features, even if that's an impressive feat; they will have to be so much better that people will not want to use Google anymore. Good luck to them...

Re:not about "quality" per se

[Guilly]

Funny, I'd like to see you say the following in future linux/microsoft bashing articles...

Though a competitor may try to make advances against Microsoft Corporation with revampments, Microsoft's already got the golden brand and in this industry the guy who's at the top stays there as people feel more comfortable using what everyone else uses ... what's established. They're not going anywhere, move along.

Thank you.

Re:not about "quality" per se

[Anonymous Coward]

You could say the same thing about Microsoft. Firefox is regarded as a "popular" browser when it captures 10% of the market share and Internet Explorer is considered "dying" when its market share drops to a pathetic 88%. IE's not going anywhere either -- does that mean that competition is completely useless?

Are we finally into the 'less is better' stage?

[grimsweep]

There's always been something about Google that I've liked more than it's search offerings: simplicity. The interface never attempts to assault you with a load of options that I may never need (I'm looking at you, Yahoo.com). Ads come in the form of simple text panels that don't make me cringe for downloading the latest version of Flash.

Given the number of gaming sites I go to these days, I would love to see this design philosohpy adapted to more sites on the web. Not only does it help the user, but it can potentially save bandwidth and reduce overall traffic.

excellent engine, took me right

[wardk]

to google when I entered google in the search area.

now if MS can pull of something like this....

Cannot search in...

[klui]

Japanese. I'd guess the same will be true for Chinese characters. Ask.com has a long, long way to go. Previews are a gimmick. I can't see the text on the website. And it sucks unnecessary bandwidth while not everything has a preview.

Preview not on all links

[192939495969798999]

The preview feature is useless because 1) it's not on every page that comes back and 2) it's not updated live. What is the point, really? Here's what i'd see in 2 seconds? I'll just spend the 2 seconds, who cares! It's much nicer to have, oh i dunno, a longer summary like Google has.

I'm sorry

[Mike Savior]

But ever since Google started expanding things well beyond search, I literally had forgotten that there are other search engines out there. Only when I see a headline concerning Google's competition or see someone using Yahoo or the like, am I reminded there are alternatives. I don't know if that's good or bad, and I'm well aware Google isn't perfect, but if they can affect people as profoundly as they have me, then Jeeves and competitors will just be putting work in for nothing. But this is probably just me being ignorant.

Re:Website time-lapse

[pomo monster]

But in what context would you, a Slashdot reader and (presumably) seasoned computer user, actually search for the term "Linux" alone? For the kind of person who would enter a search term like "Linux"--someone without a clue about computers, for example--maybe the Wikipedia entry is, indeed, the most appropriate result. And ZDNet might be as good a place as any, for the non-tech savvy, to start learning about this "Linux" thing.

These comparisons are meaningless if you just blindly submit queries you'd never do in real life, with preconceived expectations of what you'd find useful. The only way to find out which search engine works better is real-world experience. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to give Ask.com a shot for the rest of the day.