Ask > Ask: Business Issues
May. 15, 2008 at 8:29am by Greg Sterling
Ask.com Buying Lexico, Owner Of Dictionary.com
In a move that is interesting and perhaps even surprising for several reasons, IAC/Ask is buying Lexico Publishing Group, which owns and operates "iconic" domains Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. These sites get most of their traffic through direct navigation and will increase Ask's reach by 145 million unduplicated users (or...
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Mar. 5, 2008 at 9:58am by Danny Sullivan
Obit: A West Coast Digerati Deadpools Ask.com
Goodbye, Ask.com. You caught my eye back in 1997 as an unusual meta search engine that asked questions to get answers. By 1998, I counted you alongside Google and Direct Hit as shining examples of what to watch in search. You'd dumped depending on others for search results and...
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Mar. 4, 2008 at 2:55pm by Barry Schwartz
IAC Cuts 8% Of Ask.com & Kills Search Engine
IAC's Ask.com to Cut Staff, Outlines New Search Strategy from the Wall Street Journal reports IAC has cut 8% of Ask.com's workforce, by letting go 40 people. Not only that, the Wall Street Journal says IAC is changing the strategy of the search engine to "focus to better answering search...
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Mar. 3, 2008 at 1:16pm by Barry Schwartz
Ask.com Calls Dumping Teoma Search Technology Rumors False
Last week, IAC Ready To Drop Ask.com Search Technology & Partner With Google? covered rumors that Ask might be dumping its own "Teoma" search technology. Just an hour ago, I received an official statement from Ask.com saying the rumor is false. Nicholas Graham, a spokesperson from Ask.com, told me: I...
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Feb. 29, 2008 at 1:02pm by Barry Schwartz
Updated: IAC Ready To Drop Ask.com Search Technology & Partner With Google?
IAC: Ready To Bail On Ask? from Silicon Valley Insider reports an insider tip that IAC may sell off or abandon their search technology and outsource it to Google. Here is the tip: There is indeed a big shakeup coming. A new Ask. Some think a reduction in workforce is...
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Feb. 11, 2008 at 6:35am by Danny Sullivan
Not So Crazy: Yahoo May Partner With AOL To Escape Microsoft
Wondering what's next after the news that Yahoo apparently plans to reject Microsoft's takeover offer? The Times Of London reports Yahoo will restart merger talks with AOL. Below, more about the news along with some back history on AOL in search and why a Yahoo-AOL partnership might indeed be...
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Feb. 4, 2008 at 9:35am by Greg Sterling
IAC Troubles, Ask.com, And Post-Yahoo Search Share
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal both report on the legal battle for control of IAC's board and thus the company itself. It's not pretty, and IAC claims that it's impeding the company's ability to effectively operate. The legal fight arguably prevents IAC from making any sort of...
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Jan. 29, 2008 at 9:58am by Greg Sterling
Byzantine Legal Fight For Control Of Ask.com Parent IAC
The Wall Street Journal covers the "open warfare" between IAC CEO Barry Diller and Liberty Media, one of its largest backers and investors. Liberty Chairman John Malone has grown increasingly frustrated with IAC's financial and stock performance and Diller himself. Diller has control of the company through a Byzantine procedural...
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Jan. 14, 2008 at 9:21am by Barry Schwartz
Liberty Media Corporation Bought 14 Million Shares In IAC
Stake Is Bought in IAC/InterActiveCorp from the New York Times reports Liberty Media Corporation purchased an additional 14 million shares in IAC/Interactive Corp, the parent company of Ask.com. The 14 million shares came out to about $339.5 million, but have given Liberty Media Corporation about a 30 percent stake in...
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Jan. 10, 2008 at 8:28am by Danny Sullivan
A Search Product CEO - Necessary To Win The Search Engine Game?
With Jim Lanzone being replaced as Ask.com's CEO, I thought it time to do a piece that's been banging about in my head. Do successful search companies have to have CEOs or top execs who "grew up" from the search product side? The jury is probably still out, but it's...
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Nov. 23, 2007 at 8:28am by Barry Schwartz
Ask.com Plans On China Expansion
IAC Looks to Expand Web Presence in China from the Wall Street Journal reports Ask.com is planning on coming to China within two years. Barry Diller said he plans on spending $100 million to bring Ask.com to China. Diller told the Wall Street Journal, "We've certainly got enough capital to...
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Nov. 12, 2007 at 8:49am by Barry Schwartz
Diller On Ask's Growth, Facebook, & Buying AOL
Barry Diller to Time Warner: Name Your Price for AOL from AdAge has a Q&A session with Barry Diller, the CEO of IAC, the parent company of Ask.com. Diller was asked about the split up of IAC into five business units, his thoughts on the growth of the Internet, Facebook's...
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Nov. 5, 2007 at 12:45pm by Barry Schwartz
IAC To Split Up, Extends Google Ad Deal Worth $3.5+ Billion
Today is a big day for IAC, Ask.com's parent company. First they announce they are breaking the company into five publicly traded entities, and then they announce they have extended their search ad deal with Google....
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Nov. 1, 2007 at 8:30am by Barry Schwartz
Ask.com Teams With Dell To Create Custom Servers That Save Energy
Ask.com has bespoke answer for cutting server power usage from ComputerWorld reports Ask.com has contracted Dell four months ago to build out customized servers around the software applications they have built. This helps Ask.com "cut server power usage by 30%" of a typical server, said Mark Stockford, the senior vice...
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Oct. 31, 2007 at 9:50am by Barry Schwartz
Ask.com Helps IAC Earn 40% Increase In Q3 2007 Media Revenue
IAC Reports Q3 Results from CNNMoney reports that IAC saw a 4.2% decline in net income year over year. Here is IAC's press release for the third-quarter numbers this year. But if you pull out Ask.com, IAC's search engine, which is part of IAC's Media & Advertising group, you will...
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Oct. 9, 2007 at 8:57am by Barry Schwartz
Will Google Renew Ad Deal With Ask.com?
Ask.com Ad Pact With Google Ends Soon from CNNMoney.com covers how the deal for Ask.com to carry Google's paid listings expires at the end of this year and suggests Ask.com has more to lose than Google by not renewing it. Let's break down some of those numbers from the story:...
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Jul. 31, 2007 at 9:11am by Barry Schwartz
IAC Reports Q2 Earnings, Ask.com Revenue Down On A Per Query Basis
Ask.com's parent company, IAC, released their second quarter earnings statement today. Ask.com is bundled into the "Media & Advertising" category, which overall reported higher revenue than the previous year by 33%. However, Ask.com realized a "lower revenue per query since the launch" of Ask 3D in June. Why? Because the...
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Jul. 17, 2007 at 12:01am by Barry Schwartz
Microsoft Office Live To Let Customers Purchase Ads On Ask.com
Ask Sponsored Listings is going to be added to Microsoft Office Live's adManager Beta search advertising service. This is reportedly the first time in five years that two of the top five search engines have joined together to offer search engine ads to advertisers. This will enable those using Microsoft's...
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May. 31, 2007 at 9:02am by Barry Schwartz
Mark Stockford, Ask.com New Senior VP Of Operations
Ask.com has appointed Mark Stockford as the new senior vice president of operations today. Stockford will be responsible for the planning and operations of technology and engineering departments at Ask.com as well as all of Ask.com's data center operations. Stockford previously held employment at eBay, PayPal and Excite@Home. Chuck Geiger,...
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Feb. 6, 2007 at 10:02am by Barry Schwartz
IAC Earnings Drop But Ask.com Grows
Last night Ask.com's parent company, IAC, reported earnings. Bloomberg reports that IAC's profits dropped 98 percent in the fourth-quarter. The blame goes to the "entertainment coupon division." But Ask.com's media and ad segment division did pretty well, showing a growth of 46 percent in revenue from $109.5 million in Q4...
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Jan. 17, 2007 at 9:38am by Greg Sterling
Industry Moves: Peter Horan Goes To IAC
Peter Horan, who was the About.com CEO until its acquisition by the New York Times and then moved west to head up small business portal AllBusiness.com, has now been appointed CEO of IAC Media & Advertising. According to the company, "The CEOs of the Media & Advertising businesses will now...
