IAC, the parent of Ask.com, the Daily Beast and Citysearch, today announced it has amended and extended its distribution agreement with Google through March 31, 2016. The deal, which involves the distribution of AdWords ads and other search-related services to IAC sites, was originally scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. Though IAC didn't get into specific details about what terms changed, the company says the new agreement is "comparable" to the previous agreement, when taken as a whole. Back in November, Ask.com gave up web search to concentrate on Q&A search, and was said to be [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Ask: Web Search | Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords

I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Ask Sponsored Listings has changed how they handle sending referrer data to webmasters. From now on, they are basically not sharing the page of origin with the webmaster. Why? Ask said they have moved to a new system named PureLeads. What is Pureleads? The FAQ explains: Pureleads is our new proprietary technology that blends advanced click purification methods and automated campaign traffic management. The Pureleads system protects your campaign from unpredictable delivery spikes, automated click traffic and suspect traffic sources. The [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM

I said from time to time, I'd highlight some bad search results I come across. Here's a killer -- a top ranking for us national anthem on Google that when you click on it brings up random web sites that have nothing to do with the song. Behind the scenes, there's an Ask.com connection. Let's dive in. Here's the listing: For those who can't view images, I'm pointing at the fifth listing, which says: gbjann.com Get an auto loan that's right for you. Compare auto loan rates of top lenders. ... Loan type : Sort by : State : City : New auto, 48 mo. New auto, 60 mo. ... gbjann.com/anthe [...]

Related Topics: Ask: General | Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM | Features: Analysis | Google: Web Search | Stats: Relevancy | Top News

I was messing around with the Ask.com interface on my Mac and decided to compare some results between my Mac browser and Internet Explorer for PC. I noticed that Ask.com is now displaying five sponsored results for many keyword searches. The organic results are now below the fold, like they once were before dropping Jeeves. One of many searches where you can find five sponsored results at the top of the Ask.com results is for mp3 players. Here is the result in IE for PCs: But when you search in Safari or Firefox, you only get three ads at the top: This is a huge shame. It was one o [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Ask: Web Search | Channel: SEM

Scott Hendison received an email about a click fraud settlement by Ask Sponsored Listings. If you purchased online advertising from IAC Search & Media and/or ASK Jeeves from August 2005 to now, you are entitled to some form of reimbursement for click fraud or other invalid or improper clicks. The details can be found at AskSettlement.com, which contains a PDF of the settlement notice, the online claim form, a method to contact someone, and frequently asked questions. There is a fund of $820,000. Of that, $258,333 will go to the lawyers and the rest will be given to those who qualify for th [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM | Legal: Clickfraud

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: In the second quarter, Google earned $997 million from ads on "partner sites." Barry Diller of IACI said that his Ask.com accounted for 10% of Google's partner site revenue. That means Ask.com should have brought in almost $100 million of that for Google. Google's own properties earned them $1.43 billion. That is a s [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Business Issues | Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM | Google: Partnerships

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 adManager to easily advertise on Live.com and MSN as well as on Ask.com. "We are very excited about the integration of Ask Sponsored Listings, as this provides more options for our small businesses to market their companies and attract new customers," said Baris Cetinok, director of produ [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Business Issues | Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM | Microsoft: Bing Ads | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Partnerships

Ask.com is launching a new sponsored listings contextual product and will go live the week of May 21st. The Ask contextual product will initially launch within IAC's own network of sites including Match.com, Ticketmaster, Evite and Citysearch and will then expand to trusted third party publishers. Individual publishers will most likely have to wait until next quarter to gain access to this contextual product. Current Ask Sponsored Listings advertisers will be automatically opted into the contextual network, but will have the option of opting out before the product launches. In addition, [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM | Search Ads: Contextual

Off the business wire from yesterday, Ask.com Renews AdCenter License with LookSmart. In short, Ask.com has renewed their agreement with LookSmart to license LookSmart’s "AdCenter for Publishers" through 2009. Basically, LookSmart powers Ask.com's Sponsored Listings PPC advertising program for publishers. [...]

Related Topics: Ask: Sponsored Listings | Channel: SEM