Ask.com’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, Calls Yahoo Paid Inclusion “Hypocritical”

Mar 7, 2007 at 9:15am ET by Barry Schwartz

In a comment left at the Stepforth blog, Jim Lanzone, Ask.com’s CEO, has said that he considers paid inclusion a “dis-service”. Jim explains that he finds it “hypocritical to charge for something we need to do anyway,” i.e. crawl the web to find quality pages to present to the searcher. In addition, Mr. Lanzone explains that it “blurs the line” between “paid content and editorial content” making it hard for the searcher to possibly trust the search results.

Lanzone does not go as far to accuse Yahoo of skewing the results in favor of paid inclusion results. Lanzone does say that “Paid Inclusion is just not on the table for Ask.com,” which is good to know.

I have confirmed from Ask.com that these comments are from Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Ask.com. Ask.com discontinued its paid inclusion service on August 31, 2004.

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >

Share, Bookmark & Discuss This Article
More:

Keep Updated: News Via Email | News Via RSS Feed | News Via Twitter

See more stories like this in the Members Library! Check out the Ask: Employees, Ask: Promotions, Ask: SEO, Ask: Web Search, Yahoo: General, Yahoo: SEO, Yahoo: Search sections of the Members Library where this story is filed. Members also get access to exclusive video content, a members-only weekly & monthly newsletter, plus more. Check out all the benefits!

ONE COMMENT ON Ask.com’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, Calls Yahoo Paid Inclusion “Hypocritical”

CJ Millisock, March 7th, 2007 at 10:21 am ET:

That’s why nobody uses Yahoo search.

TOP STORIES

See All »

SEARCH NEWS BRIEFS

See All »

FEATURES & ANALYSIS

See All »

RECENT COMMENTS

fonegigsblog said " Wow! Looks like Google will truly be the one stop shop for digital advertising in the next few years"
Matt McGee said " Exactly my thoughts, too, George. If it's just News Corp, okay, there are plenty of other news sourc"
George Michie said " Matt, I think Google wins this game of chicken. Indeed, as long as one company is willing to provide"

See All »

See How To Articles And More In Our Members Library »

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

Stay on top of all the search news with our daily summary, the SearchCap newsletter. View a sample ›

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

The Search Engine Land feed keeps you informed as news happens. SEE ALL FEEDS »

SEARCH ENGINE LAND SPONSORS

Advertise With Us »

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND CONFERENCES

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.

SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND WEBCASTS

Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include: