Author Archive

Het is voor mij een eer om aan te mogen kondigen dat Ask.com met zijn unieke zoektechnologie nu ook in Nederland is neergestreken. Jeeves, onze trouwe butler heeft eervol afscheid genomen en ons een nieuwe en strakke vormgeving nagelaten. Probeer het nu uit en ontdek: Ask.com Nederland!

Ook de pers heeft lucht gekregen van de aanwezigheid van onze Nederlandse bètaversie en de positieve reacties bevestigen onze verwachting dat Ask.com Nederland een blijvertje zal zijn in de Nederlandse internetwereld.

“Ask.com is de enige grote zoekmachine die het web verdeelt in 'gemeenschappen' per onderwerp…”
- Henk de Hooge, Dutch Cowboys

“Net als andere zoekmachines maakt Ask.com gebruik van de populariteit van links om resultaten te ordenen. Ask.com gaat echter verder.Ook de reputatie van webpagina’s onder experts weegt mee bij het vaststellen van de relevantie.” - Marco Derksen, Marketingfacts.

Ook gebruikers zijn laaiend enthousiast over onze zoekmachine:
“Veel functionaliteiten en niet teveel bombarie. Precies goed!”
“Gefeliciteerd met jullie geweldige zoekmachine! Het ziet er erg mooi uit.”

Met Ask.com Nederland betreden we de Nederlandse internetarena met een unieke en verfrissende manier van zoeken. De zoektechnologie van Ask.com is enig in zijn soort en kijkt naar het Internet zoals het op natuurlijke wijze is geordend, in organisch gevormde gemeenschappen. Dit stelt ons in staat de meest relevante en betrouwbare webpagina’s te vinden als antwoord op uw zoekopdrachten.

Naast het "pure" zoeken biedt Ask.com Nederland ook een aantal handige extra's die we gebundeld hebben in een makkelijke navigatiebalk op de startpagina, genaamd “Gereedschap”. Dit zoekgereedschap geeft u de mogelijkheid nog sneller en eenvoudiger te zoeken naar alles wat u interesseert en tovert websurfen om tot een sociale activiteit.

Zelf ben ik heel enthousiast over het sociale aspect dat MijnAsk toevoegt aan het Internet en gebruik het dagelijks. Met MijnAsk kunt u afbeeldingen en webpagina's op het Internet opslaan, e-mailen en delen met familie en vrienden. Onze unieke Verrekijkers geven u een voorproefje van een website zonder dat u hem hoeft te openen, heel handig en tijdsbesparend. Een andere topper in het Gereedschap is Bloglines; lees het laatste nieuws het eerst met onze nieuwsverzamelaar die al het nieuws voor u bundelt en u in staat stelt zelf uw bijdrage aan het nieuws te leveren met weblogs. We zijn ook verheugd dat we onze afbeeldingenzoeker voor Nederland beschikbaar hebben kunnen stellen. Zoek specifiek in de miljarden plaatjes die het Internet rijk is! En dit is pas het begin. De komende maanden gaan we onze gereedschapskist flink uitbreiden met features die op de Amerikaanse website, www.ask.com al beschikbaar zijn: Nieuws, Smart Answers, Encyclopedie, Verwante Zoekresultaten en nog veel meer, speciaal geoptimaliseerd voor de Nederlandse markt.

We zijn heel benieuwd wat u vindt van Ask.com Nederland. Laat het ons weten via opmerkingen@ask.help.com.

Zoek en gij zult vinden met Ask.com Nederland. Veel plezier!

Tico Andrea
Product Specialist – The Netherlands

I am very proud to announce that Ask.com has landed in the Netherlands, as we have recently introduced the beta version of Ask.com Nederland. Our unique search technology is now available for all Dutch people to enjoy. Jeeves, our loyal butler has retired with honor and left us with a sleeker design and new search tools. Try it out and discover: Ask.com Nederland!

The Dutch press has picked up on the new site and wrote some very positive responses that confirm our expectation that Ask.com Nederland would be received with much enthusiasm:

“Ask.com is the only big search engine that divides the Web into 'site communities'”
- Henk de Hooge, Dutch Cowboys

“Like its competitors it is based on link popularity. But Ask.com takes it up a notch. It also analyzes the notoriety and 'reputation' that the links have among the experts of specific fields.”
-Marco Derksen, Marketingfacts

We have also received some good feedback from users:
“Lots of functionality and no baloney! Exactly right! Keep it up!”
“I love the site. … and the tools palette is really great.”

With Ask.com Nederland we enter the Dutch search arena with a unique and refreshing approach to search. The search technology that Ask.com has developed is unrivaled and interprets the Web as it is naturally structured, in organically formed topic communities. This allows us to identify the most authoritative and respected web sites for your queries.

Besides offering a first-class search engine, Ask.com also comes with a package of features and tools united in our “Toolbox”. These search tools make searching and finding things even easier and transform web surfing into a social activity:

One of the best examples of the “social’ character of our search tools is MijnAsk, the personalized search service that lets you save web pages, upload and save images, and transfer and share information by organizing contents in folders. I use it on a daily basis myself. My personal favorite in the Toolbox is Bloglines. With Bloglines you can keep track of the blogs and RSS feeds that are most important and interesting to you - and even create your own blog - without installing any software. For our Dutch site, we made sure to include Binoculars, our tool that creates previews of Web sites without having to click through to the site, a very nifty and great time-saving tool. We are also very happy to have Image Search on our Dutch site; search specifically among the billions of images that are out there.

And this is just the beginning. The coming months we will add a wide range of search tools like News, Smart Answers, Encyclopedia, Related Search and much more to the Toolbox. In the meanwhile we will keep improving our main objective: to be the most advanced search engine that finds the best results the fastest.

We love to hear what you think of Ask.com Nederland. Please send us your feedback at this address: opmerkingen@ask.help.com.

Search and you shall find with Ask.com Nederland. Enjoy!

Tico Andrea
Product Specialist – The Netherlands

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   Runtime: 30 seconds

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.

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 spots without this player.

Facts:
* George Mason is the first 11 seed to make the Final Four since LSU in 1986 and the first non-BCS team to make it since Penn and Indiana State in 1979.

* Is just the second double-digit seed to reach the Final Four, hitting six straight 3-pointers in the second half and shooting 5-for-6 in overtime to stun top-seeded and heavily favored UConn 86-84.

* This season set new school records for wins in a season (27), assists in a season (497), field-goal percentage defense (.384) and scoring defense (58.9).

Sources: GoMason.com | CBS.Sportsline.com

ps. If you find this post perplexing, you should read this article.

Due to an unusual release schedule here at Ask this week, we are faced with an interesting dilemma.  We have an amazing new feature in the pipe that searchers everywhere will benefit from, and it'll be ready to go out tomorrow.  But if we release it on a Saturday, no one will hear about it. 

Do we wait until Monday, so we can get more buzz?  Or do we release it on Saturday, so people can start using it and benefiting right away?  Please use the comments form below to cast your vote.

Thanks for your feedback!  Due to popular demand, the launch will occur ahead of schedule.  We're launching it tonight at 6pm PST, so be sure to visit Ask.com starting at that time if you'd like to check it out.  (What better way to pre-party on a Friday night than to Gamma-test a new search product?  Put on a little Duran Duran and test away!) 
Gamma?  Yes.  The new product is being released in Gamma mode, which is one step beyond Beta, but still not ready for primetime.  Thus, it will be live on Ask.com, for all users, during the test period.  Please send us your comments with recommended improvements.

Details are below in an advance copy of the press release:

============================

Ask.com Introduces RhymeRank™

Cutting Edge Technology Provides Phaster and Phresher Related Search Results

Oakland, CA, April 1, 2006 – Ask.com announced today the introduction of RhymeRank, an innovative search technology capable of producing related search results that rhyme with a searcher’s original query.  The new product is located on the right-hand side of the Ask search results page, under the heading, “Rhyme Your Search.” 

“This will go down as the day the momentum in the search wars shifted to Ask.com,” said Jim Lanzone, General Manager of Ask U.S.  “When combined with our site’s already-powerful “Narrow Your Search” and “Expand Your Search” capabilities, “Rhyme Your Search” sets Ask.com apart with the unprecedented ability to suggest phat new ideas for your search.”

RhymeRank was developed at a top-secret laboratory near Ask’s headquarters in Oakland, California.  It is based upon the educational theory that people commit information to memory more effectively when it is phonetically consistent.  Understanding this, Ask hired dozens of experts to develop algorithms capable of producing the best and most irrelevant rhymes.  For example, for the query, “Weight Watchers® Rewards”, Ask.com’s RhymeRank will suggest the following alternative searches:

Rhyme Your Search
mongolian hordes
the history of fords
pictures of fjords
maternity wards
create free message boards
names of drug lords
toward or towards
chart of guitar cords
bill cosby awards
roman legions swords

“Web 3.0 is clearly upon us,” noted John Battelle, author of The Search, and one of the world’s leading experts on the search industry.  “RhymeRank smartly builds upon the recent relaunch of Ask.com.  This is a BIG DEAL and is the kind of innovation that demands Ask’s rivals stand up and take notice.  Or to sit on the sidelines in the position of the lotus.”

“Aspiring rappers and poets are a huge, untapped market,” said lead engineer Keith Hogan.  “Someone will win a Grammy or Pulitzer one day using this product.   Or, at the very least, an Open Mic Night.”

Ask.com is a trademark of IAC Search & Media, Inc.  All other marks are the trademarks of their respective owner.

About six weeks ago this announced my new job at Ask.com.

My first month at Ask.com was, in a word, awesome! Many thanks to my new Ask.com colleagues for their many kind words and for a lot of help in getting me going with my new job. In the first month we got a lot done including several live presentations and a bunch of magazine interviews like this one.

As the original blog post points out, I'm a librarian by trade and also the editor and founder of two sites that continue while I work at Ask.

Allow me to formally introduce ResourceShelf and DocuTicker. I think one or both of these resources will be of interest to many of you. In other words, you don't have to be a librarian to find ResourceShelf and DocuTicker to find the sites useful and valuable. I'm happy to report that both sites have a large and growing readership outside of the library profession. These groups include journalists, educators, students, business people (especially in public relations and marketing) along with information and search geeks.

ResourceShelf has been online for over five years. In fact, we celebrated our fifth birthday on March 1st. What is it? A daily update of database news, search news, information industry happenings and a never ending stream of new resources ranging from new full text reports to lists and rankings to vertical search tools. Think of it as a tool that you can use to help build your own virtual Internet tool belt.

Next, is DocuTicker. This site, also updated daily, is where we post even more new, often just hours old, full text reports that we don't have room for on ResourceShelf. The content comes from a variety of government agencies, think tanks, non-government organizations, universities, etc. I'm also happy to report that ResourceShelf has a large subscriber base via Bloglines.

Full text RSS feeds for both sites are available: ResourceShelf | DocuTicker
I would like to invite all Ask.com Blog readers to stop by, take a look, and hopefully make both sites part of your regular reading routine. We update just about seven days a week.

Finally, three more brief points.

First, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker are independent sites. We are free to post what we like when we like. I think if you review ResourceShelf since I began at Ask.com, you'll see that our coverage and scope have not changed.

Second, although I'm the editor of both sites we have several other people, with more to come, contributing content and resources and occasional commentary.

Third, we've learned that although we update the site daily and offer an RSS feed many people still want a reminder in their email box. So, once a week we send out a weekly email newsletter with a few of the highlights from the past week.

That's it for now. Thanks for your interest. If all goes as planned I'll be posting to the blog on a regular basis with an occasional comment or two along with highlights from both blogs.

Cheers,

Gary D. Price
MLIS Librarian Director of Online Information Resources
Ask.com Director of Online Information Resources
Editor ResourceShelf.com
Editor DocuTicker.com

On April 18th, 1906, a massive earthquake rattled the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly an entire minute followed by fires which left the city in ruins and an estimated 3,000 people dead. There are many great archival resources available online to see and explore, as well as many local Bay Area events.

 
As Gary points out, Ask.com's Smart Answers have many resources for both the 100 year anniversary of this tragic event, as well as more contemporary earthquake-related features; including a near real-time list of current earthquakes, earthquakes by area (if applicable), and even another on earthquake preparedness.
 
As we look back at this destruction with awe and wonder, it is important to also think of the future. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is "a 62% probability that at least one earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater will occur on a known or unknown San Francisco Bay region fault before 2032". Recent natural disasters such as last year's earthquake in Pakistan or Hurricane Katrina should serve to reminds us to prepare for the future as best we can.
 
 

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.

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. Download the QuickTime trailer from emmyonline.org.

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.