We wanted to share with you the logos and themes from the search engines for New Years! Google had two different logos, one for New Years Eve and the other for New Years Day.

Bing had an outstanding video home page background:

Yahoo had this nice Flash animated logo:

Ask.com:

Dogpile:

Baidu:

Sogou:

Also, you do not want to miss the best Google logos for 2011.

The ads reportedly focus on Ask’s more recent positioning as a Q&A engine:

The 15-second commercials emphasize the company’s new focus on fact-based answers to questions posed in everyday language, showing people asking things like “Where can I watch TV online for free?” and “Does speed dating really work?”

Q&A is a relatively hot area these days, though most of the products in the market face various challenges, such as quality (Yahoo Answers), mainstream appeal and scalability (Quora) or utility (Opinionaided). And Facebook Questions hasn’t developed into the “killer app” I originally thought it would.

Ask’s current market share, according to comScore, is 3 percent. It seems to have stabilized in recent months after a period of decline.

We were unable to find the particular spot discussed in the AdWeek article. So here are several of Ask’s previous TV campaigns for your viewing pleasure.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Postscript: Here’s the commercial referenced in the AdWeek story (courtesy of Ask):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related Entries

• Ask.com Opens Up Its Human Q&A Community, Steps Further Away From Search
• Ask Comes Full Circle With “Q&A” Offering
• The New Ask.com: A Little Bit Search, A Little Bit Answers
• Ask to Introduce New Q&A Engine Soon
• Ask Making A Bigger Bet On “Social Search” Or Q&A
• Ask.com Expands AnswerFarm Q&A Database
• WSJ Covers Ask.com’s “Information Revolution” Ad Campaign
• Ask.com Goes Weird & Creepy With New UK Commercials

I got a chuckle out of this on Google. Do a search for bing it, and Google comes back with a suggestion of “bring it.” Is Google telling Bing to bring it on?

It’s all automated, of course. This is just Google’s spelling correction kicking in. Many more people are likely typing in “bring it” than “bing it,” so Google’s trying to do the right thing and help them. But it’s still funny to me.

Over at Ask, the same thing happens there:

So see, it’s not just Google being mean to Bing.

Yahoo also does something similar. It brings back results for for both “bring it” and “bing it” mixed together, along with an option for the searcher to get only “bing it” results:

What about Bing itself? No suggestion there that the searcher might want “bring it” rather than “bing it,” as you can see:

I suppose that makes sense. More people at Bing who enter “bing it” might really mean that rather than “bring it.”

Does anyone actually say Bing It? Yes, a few actually do. Our Yes, People Do Say “Bing It” — Barely story from last month covers this in more depth. Not many, but it is a term that some people are saying — and perhaps searching on.

Of course, many more people say “Google It.” How’s that play out at Bing? Just fine — its lists Google tops, with no special suggestions.

That’s not the case with Yahoo, which shoves a box encouraging you to “get straight to your answers here with Yahoo! Search” above Google’s listing (the same thing happens if you just search for “google,” as well):

Why’s Yahoo listing Google Italy rather than the main Google site? The “It” part of “Google It” is probably being interpreted as a search for www.google.it, the Italian version of Google.

Ask plays straight with a search for “google it,” but if you search for Google, it tries to keep you there like Yahoo does:

Yahoo’s done this type of thing in the past (see “You Could Go To Google,” Says Yahoo — But Why Not Stay Here?). To its credit, Bing — in a search for Google there — doesn’t try to convince you to Bing It instead.

Jared Cluff, Ask’s senior VP of marketing, says the deal produced some measurable results in 2009:

“We saw double-digit increases in usage among NASCAR fans. With the fan cards that our Ask Ambassadors passed out at the track, we saw a 27 percent conversion rate to the site, so fans were coming back from the track and going to the site. That’s a remarkable stat.”

The Sporting News says Ask spent about $15 million on its NASCAR-related sponsorships last year. The deal was announced last January, with Ask saying the agreement would help it compete against Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. But a year later, Ask remains a distant fourth in market share according to both Hitwise and comScore, and fifth according to Nielsen.

UTalkMarketing.com reported “Gieves and Hawkes together with Ben Sherman have supplied virtual outfits that allow users to transform butler Jeeves from his usual smart two-piece suit.” The Flash dressup wizard was created by Framestore and Moonshine and offers 100,000 different outfit combinations.

Here is a video of me dressing up Jeeves:

You read that? “My company just gave up on search. Where do I work now” and then the URL at the bottom. That is Ask.com being funny and then trying to pick up Yahoo Search employees. I am also being told that they are giving away bars of chocolate that say the same line.

Yea, Yahoo did give up on search but I also personally believe Ask.com has also given up on search.

Here is a picture:

I am curious on your take. Do you like these types of ads or do you think this shows signs of weakness from Ask.com?

Postscript: Here is Ask.com’s response:

Ask is running a unique, two-day homepage takeover with FOX studios to promote the new blockbuster family film – “Night at the Museum 2” (the first movie got almost $575 mm in WW box office sales). Contrary to what has been written about this feature – it is not an ad. It’s much more – it’s a partnership between Ask and FOX. It’s ‘infotainment’. It’s a product integration project. Ask.com is actually featured in the movie itself, and we in turn are featuring the movie (and trailer) on the Ask homepage in a visually robust and media-rich format..

Ask is doing this for several reasons. First, we know our users love a homepage that is not just ‘white space’, but offers something more interesting and compelling. Second, NM2 is also a movie about historical characters and learning – and aligns with Ask’s focus on content that is of great interest to families and kids – and fun, too. Third, the homepage is not static – it comes alive in a “rollover” or “hotspot” format when you mouse over the movie’s historical icons and legends – like Amelia Earhart, General Custer and Sacagawea, and allows user to experience Ask’s robust search results through our proprietary “Smart Answers” offering. (When you click on a character, you get Ask’s Smart Answer on said historical icon). In that sense, the homepage takeover is actually an introduction to the Ask search experience – to online discovery and exploration – and in no way detracts from, or inhibits, the usual Ask search process.

Fourth, its not the first time we’ve done this: in 2008, Ask did a promo for the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace”, that allows users to get a special ‘skin’ that can replace their homepage. Very popular. We also have used the homepage takeover experience to promote important non-profit causes and introduce our users to the greater good that can come from the search experience; that took place when we had a partnership late last year for “Free the Children”, and again in April for Autism Awareness month with “Autism Speaks” – both incredibly successful in terms of interest, feedback, and click-thrus. From time to time, we also feature a ‘peel’ in the upper left-hand corner of the homepage to bring a unique offering (and deals!) from a partner to the attention of our users – as we did in February with a major florist for Valentines Day.

It’s also useful to note that Ask – like many other search engines – has used homepages to celebrate national (and international) holidays – and to promote awareness of how to help victims of a major disaster, such as we did last June when we used the Ask homepage to help educate users about the quake news and relief efforts. In addition, when we launched our partnership with NASCAR early this year, we had a NASCAR-themed homepage for a week – and then converted that to a ‘skin’ that is a choice for consumers to use to this day. And they do.

More than anything, we know that allowing users to see and experience something other than a ‘usual’ homepage excites and captivates them, which is why our ‘skins’ feature is so popular and desired. It also creates strong ‘lifetime value’ in users, which is such a critical part of brand presence and growing our share of market. And also adds to positive trends in frequency and retention.

Finally, if online companies don’t evolve smartly to give users new and compelling features, and also keep in-line with major cultural events and causes, then they themselves run the real risk of actually becoming a museum piece in the Smithsonian – instead of simply featuring it to the excitement of their users on their homepage or portal.

The new character has been transformed into a 3D icon, replacing its 2D counterpart. The 3D version will be found on the Ask UK home page and on the right hand side of the search results. The character will offer searchers additional search options, interact with the searcher on their query and more. When I asked for more specifics, Ask’s reply was, “you will want to wait and see.”

Cesar Mascaraque, managing director of Ask Jeeves Europe and former Googler, shared a YouGov poll, where Ask polled their UK users and found that Jeeves had 83% brand awareness, even after retiring Jeeves three years ago. Compare that to Ask.com’s 72% awareness, and the Ask team felt it was the right move to make, bringing back Jeeves in the UK.

“Our users have emphatically told us that they find Jeeves enhances their search experience – adding character to what can otherwise be a very functional experience. They see Jeeves as approachable and trustworthy and, above all, helpful,” Mascaraque said.

Mascaraque explained that Ask focused hard on improving their core search over the past year. Mascaraque said they have achieved on that level (I still disagree), but they needed to also focus on the perception of the search engine.

The Ask UK team will backup the new 3D Jeeves character with a major marketing and PR push. The marketing effort will be broken into two phases:

1. Initial messaging that Jeeves is back and with a lot more answers
2. Later, a much more targeted approach to buying ads that are contextually relevant to what the user is doing. For example, if someone’s watching a home improvement TV show, the ad that shows might have a question related to home improvement

The campaign will be inclusive of TV ads, radio ads, print ads and online ads. Plus, Ask UK will create a Facebook fan page and Twitter account to continue the message in the social media space.

I asked if bringing back Jeeves is proof that Ask is going back to their 1996 roots? The obvious reply was no, the new Jeeves character is revitalized, quicker, smarter and should be perceived as better.

So why only bring Jeeves back in the UK? Mascaraque explained that the polls they ran in the UK showed a strong desire for Jeeves to make a come back. The same desire was not found in the US, although Ask admitted they did not run similar polls in the US. Nicholas Graham, spokesperson for Ask.com in the US, did remind that you can bring Jeeves back in the US by typing in askjeeves.com into your browser. Mascaraque also added that Jeeves is more of a British character than a US character.

Instead in the US, Ask has been building on its partnership with NASCAR through a series of television ads that in some ways are the opposite of the Ask UK approach. Rather than focusing on a refined butler, these ads revolve around the “Ray family” which asks questions such as if you can drink milk after its expiration date. Said Graham:

“The questions are articulated by the Ray family, our NASCAR fan family that viewers see during race day programming on FOX.  Since the Rays have non-NASCAR questions in their lives, we’re also featuring them beyond so-called ‘race car programming’, on networks and programs that index well against the NASCAR fan audience like Sci Fi, USA and NHL on NBC. The campaign started in mid-February, and we’re on 18 different networks — including AMC, FX, National Geographic Channel, MLB Network, and NFL Network.”

Here’s one of the ads

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beyond the traditional TV ad spots, Ask has also been running “crawl” ads that appear during shows such as on National Geographic, during NASCAR events and Major League Baseball:

Will we ever see Jeeves make a full return to the US market? I personally believe we will. The NASCAR season is over sometime in November, and although I don’t know if there is a specific time period for the NASCAR and Ask.com partnership, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jeeves make a comeback in the US market in early 2010.

Postscript: Jeeves now has his Facebook page and Twitter account up, as noted by Mashable. Also see related coverage on Techmeme.

Postscript 2: If you’re looking for the other four ads that I’d posted with Ask.com’s permission to YouTube, they’re gone. About a month after this story went up, Ask’s ad agency filed takedown requests with YouTube. Ask didn’t know this happened, so went back to figure out what was going on. Ask learned they only have the rights to show the single ad above for an unlimited time (the crawl ads are also unlimited). So, Hanft Raboy & Partners, I hope you’re happy.

Since Hanft Raboy & Gang kind of irked me, I figured I should learn more about the agency. Ironically for a company working with a search engine, they seem clueless to SEO. They’ve got an all-Flash site that’s pretty uncrawlable. This is what you get when you search for them:

“Get Flash,” now there’s a nice creative message.

I’d link to the page that explains what they do, but — given that it’s all in Flash — I can’t. But I especially loved this part:

Our work combines deep cultural and consumer insights with a rare understanding of business realities. Our clients don’t just work with us, they experience us.

Here’s a business reality. You probably kind of tick off your clients if, after they work really hard to get some attention for those ads you produced for them, later find out you’ve gone out without checking with them first to yank them off the web. I mean, it was probably pretty hard to click from the links in those videos that led to this story, see that Ask was quoted, see that they had given me permission to post them and think hmm, maybe we should talk to someone before filing some time-wasting takedown requests.

I get that there might be issues that prevent these ads from being posted online, such as the need to pay additional fees to the actors. Then again, maybe they’re aren’t any. And if not, another business reality is allowing the ads to stay up with the agency’s own permission might have been a smart move.

Oh, and another business reality is that a lot of people these days interact with web sites via search. I know you’re all into the creative and want to make people “nervous enough to be challenged” with your ads, as your What We Do page says. But you might want to demonstrate some basic awareness of one of the primary ways consumers interact with brands on the web — through search.

Currently, Ask.com is the only “search engine” to have display ads on their search home page. I’ll leave my negative thoughts to myself this time.

The list isn’t complete, nor will it ever be. But that’s how it went with blogging. A few years ago, search engines and their employees jumped into the world of blogging (our Search Engine Land blogroll lists a number of these). “Who’s blogging” lists soon emerged, until blogging became so mainstream that people stopped bothering to keep track.

Now the early adopters are turning to Twitter, and in turn, making it more mainstream. Here’s a starting list of who’s out there from the search engine world:

Google & Google Product Blogs

• google / Google (main account)
• youtube / YouTube
• googleimages / Google Image Search
• googlereader / Google Reader
• googleapps / Google Apps
• blogger / Blogger

(NOTE: See also Google Posts List Of All Its Official Twitter Accounts, which was posted after this article was written)

Google: Web Search

• mattcutts / Matt Cutts (head of web spam team)
• brianwhite / Brian White (program manager with web spam team)
• nathanjohns / Nathan Johns (search quality analyst)
• beahburger / Beah Burger (search quality evaluator)
• reidyokoyama / Reid Yokoyama (search quality team)
• wysz / Michael Wyszomierski (search quality team)
• pedrodias / Pedro Dias (search quality team)
• filiber / Fili (search quality)

Google: Webmaster Central

• googlewmc / Google Webmaster Central (main account)
• susanmoskwa / Susan Moskwa (Google Webmaster Central)
• peeyush / Peeyush Ranjan (Google Webmaster Central)
• thatadamguy / Adam Lasnik (webmaster relations)
• johnmu / John Mueller (webmaster relations

Google: AdWords

• adwordshelper (main AdWords support account)
• adwordsprosarah (additional AdWords support account)

Google: More Twitters

• avinashkaushik / Avinash Kaushik (Google Analytics evangelist)
• cdibona / Chris DiBona (Open Source evangelist, among other titles)
• iamjason / Jason Morrison (Googler)
• jhuber / Jeff Huber (senior vice president, engineering)
• joshu / Joshua Schachter (technical staff at Google & founder, Delicious)
• kraneland / David Krane (long-time Google PR maestro)
• larrybrilliant / Larry Brilliant (chief philanthropy evangelist, Google.org)
• mikeleotta / Mike Leotta (Google webmaster)
• rklau / Rick Klau (business product manager, Blogger)
• skamdar / Sagar Kamdar (product manager)

Microsoft: Live Search

• live_search / Live Search (main account)
• nathanbuggia / Nathan Buggia (Microsoft Webmaster Center)
• jandrick / Jeremiah Andrick (Microsoft Webmaster Center)
• ayazook / Aya Zook (Microsoft Live Search marketing)
• benmwatson / Ben Watson (Live Search software engineer)
• fareologist (official Microsoft Live Search Farecast)
• cashbackdotcom (official Microsoft Live Search cashback)

Microsoft: adCenter

• adcenterblog / adCenter Blog (main Microsoft adCenter account)
• msadvertising / Microsoft Advertising Europe
• melcarson / Mel Carson (adCenter community relations)

Microsoft: Powerset & Other

• powerset / Powerset (main account)
• barneyp / Barney Pell (Powerset founder)
• jsenior / James Senior (Live services evangelist)

Yahoo & Yahoo Product Blogs

• yahoo / Yahoo (main Yahoo account)
• yahoogames / Yahoo Games
• yahoomovies / Yahoo Movies

Yahoo: Buzz

• yahoobuzz / Yahoo Buzz main account
• yahoosearchdata /Yahoo Search Data (interesting stats from Yahoo Buzz)
• meredfern / Joff Redfern (VP Yahoo Buzz)

Yahoo: Web Search

• searchmonkey / Yahoo Search Monkey main account
• cornett / Larry Cornett (vice president, Yahoo Search Product)
• crispierry / Cris Pierry (general manager, Yahoo Search)
• grahammudd / Graham Mudd (Yahoo Search Monkey & BOSS)
• jpederse / Jan Pedersen (Chief scientistt, Yahoo Search & Ad Tech Group)
• mwinters58 / Mike Winters (Yahoo Search team)
• rajgossain / Raj Gossain (vice president, Yahoo Search)
• sheila / Sheila Tran (Yahoo PR)

Yahoo: More Twitters

• adamzarlengo / Adam Zarlengo (product manager, Yahoo Movies)
• dennismortensen / Dennis Mortensen (director of data insights)
• kylelaughlin / Kyle Laughlin (general manager, Yahoo Games)
• lauralippay / Laura Lippay (director of technical marketing)
• tonyadam / Tony Adam (SEO for Yahoo Audience Marketing)
• yahooguy / Gabe Elliott (search and display ad exec)

Ask

• askdotcom / Ask.com Europe
• keithhogan / Keith Hogan (vice president, technology)

Techmeme

• techmeme / Techmeme (main account)
• gaberivera / Gabe Rivera (founder, Techmeme)
• megan / Megan McCarthy (editor, Techmeme)

Twitter

• twitter / Twitter (main account)
• ev / Evan Williams (CEO, Twitter & cofounder)
• biz / Biz Stone (Twitter cofounder)

Others

• craignewmark (Founder of Craigslist)
• kevinrose / Kevin Rose (Founder, Digg)
• skrenta / Rich Skrenta (CEO, Blekko)
• thegoldenhat (head of SEO for Facebook)

And don’t forget, the editors here at Search Engine Land are on Twitter, along with Search Engine Land itself:

• sengineland, Search Engine Land
• dannysullivan, Danny Sullivan
• elisabethos, Elisabeth Osmeloski
• gsterling, Greg Sterling
• mattmcgee, Matt McGee
• michellerobbins, Michelle Robbins (technical directory
• rustybrick, Barry Schwartz
• vanessafox, Vanessa Fox

We know we’re missing people. Please add them to the comments below!