Like many others, I saw the mention that came out on LiveSide earlier today about Microsoft’s new search interface and potential “Kumo” brand change. Now we, along with others, have received an internal memo about the changes along with some further screenshots Before jumping in, let’s talk about the brand change. I’ve lost track of […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Search Engine Journal points to some Twitter postings from Mary Hodder that suggest Google is laying off qualified engineers as part of a mandate to reduce headcount across the board. Apparently this is being done “quietly” so as not to alert press. Guess not. It’s critical to stress that all this is just rumor but […]
Sigh. Reading Stephen Ballmer’s latest "rally the troops" memo over yet another Microsoft reorganization, I just want to scream at the man and the company in general that they’ll never win at search if they don’t get it through their heads that it’s not about selling ads, but serving searchers.
As SS Yahoo appears to be sinking, let me be the contrarian about her future. I admit, I find it as hard to believe as anyone that Yahoo has much life left in it after all the executive departures this week, plus the latest news of Delicious founder Joshua Schacter going. But since Yahoo’s leadership […]
The Wall Street Journal reports that IAC, parent of Ask, is preparing to launch a number of startups after its spin off of some of its traditional media properties. Among the new sites is RushmoreDrive, a niche search engine targeting African Americans. What’s interesting is its demographic approach to search.
At long last, Google owns DoubleClick. In doing so, the company has done something else that many people would have never believed possible. Become an SEO. That’s right — Google’s in the SEO business now, selling services through DoubleClick’s Performics to people who want to rank well on — um — Google. Conflict of interest? […]
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 started providing answers using your own […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
AllThingD’s Kara Swisher does a wide ranging video interview with former Ask CEO Jim Lanzone. Among other things, Swisher and Lanzone discuss “the future of search” (at only the very highest level, however).
The Microsoft conference call on the Yahoo bid is happening now. I’ll live blog rough notes. Greg Sterling will do a formal write-up later.
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 agreement that allows him to […]
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 interesting to look back at […]
IAC, Ask.com’s parent company, has announced that Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Ask.com, will be replaced immediately by Jim Safka as the new CEO of Ask.com. Safka was previously the CEO of Match.com, IAC’s online dating company, from 2004 to 2007. He will also retain his job at as CEO of Primal Ventures, an investment […]
We’ve just finalized the third keynote panel for SMX West, and it’s going to be a fascinating session. Gord Hotchkiss and I will be talking about the future of search with Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone, Brad Goldberg, Microsoft’s General Manager, Search Business Group, and Google’s Director of Research, Peter Norvig. This ‘Generation Next’ keynote discussion […]
Each month, I compile Search Month — a recap of all the stories that have happened relating to search, categorized by topic. I thought it would be fun to take all the Search Months over the past year and produce this edition of Search Year 2007. It was far more work than I imagined, but […]
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
Ask.com has launched AskEraser, giving searchers the ability to search anonymously. Ask.com told us about this tool back in July, and six months later, it’s now live for all searchers to use. When a searcher activates AskEraser, Ask will stop recording the searcher’s search queries and cookie information. This information includes IP address, User ID, […]
Several weeks ago (seemingly years) Just Behave featured Part One of the summarized interviews with my personal dream team of search usability: Jakob Nielsen, the Web’s best-known usability guru Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of user experience and interface design Michael Ferguson, one of the architects of Ask’s unique user experience Larry Cornett, the VP of […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is a roundup of all the coverage I was able to find throughout the day of the SES San Jose conference. This coverage is for the second day of SES, taking place on August 21, 2007. If I missed any, please add a comment below.
It’s Search Engine Strategies San Jose next week. For Chris Sherman and I, it’s our swan song. This is the last SES event that either of us will program, with our search marketing conference efforts going forward focused on our own Search Marketing Expo (SMX) events. But we’ve put our all into making the last […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
I Fought the Law from the New York Times tells the story of how Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone abandoned pursuing a legal degree and learned his true passion was for internet companies. Lanzone attended Emory University’s School of Law in Atlanta. He then worked for Justice Hugh P. Thompson at the Supreme Court of Georgia, […]
Ask.com announced that they will be launching "AskEraser" in the near future, a feature to allow you to erase your search history. Ask also said it will be implementing a new 18 month data retention policy, where searches will be disassociated from IP addresses or cookies that might possibly be used to link them back […]
I love search engines. I love comedy movies. So let’s have fun putting the two together. Which search engines are most like some famous movie fraternities? Yes, there is an Animal House of search! Google: Lambda Lambda Lambda (Revenge Of The Nerds) As I pondered how to match search engines to movie fraternities, this one […]
Chris Sherman once compared Ask.com to Apple. Ask CEO Jim Lanzone remarked to me that he liked the comparison because it spoke to quality and innovativeness. Indeed, among the top-tier search engines Ask has arguably been the most innovative. In one sense it has to be. Without that effort it might lose hold on the […]
IAC to spend $100 mln on Ask brand in 2007: Diller from the Washington Post reports that Ask.com is going spend $100 million on branding Ask.com this year. IAC chairman Barry Diller, whose company owns Ask.com, said We have a number of ways to tell people about Ask, its tools, and why it should be […]
Ask.com Hopes Ads Compute to Buzz from the Wall Street Journal reports that Ask.com is launching a new TV and web ad campaign today, to try to generate buzz about the Ask.com search engine. The article says this ad campaign is “gearing up to a relaunch of the site and the debut of its new […]
Gary Price reports that Portfolio.com released a database of top executives profiles, and part of that list includes many of the top executives from our beloved search engines. Here are quick links to some of those profiles of interest:
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Is local search a microcosm of general search or is it the ultimate vertical? I’ve had this debate with a number of people over the past couple of years. Ask’s CEO Jim Lanzone once told me that he felt local was part of almost every vertical, and therefore not a vertical. I agree with him […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com, has confirmed with me that Ask.com is working on Edison. Edison is the code name behind merging of Ask.com’s two different search technologies they own, Teoma and Direct Hit. The name comes from inventor Thomas Edison, who worked out of New Jersey where’s Ask’s Teoma technology came from and where […]
Ask.Com’s ‘Revolt’ Risks Costly Clicks from the Wall Street Journal weighs in on the Ask.com guerrilla marketing campaign we covered last month, especially focusing on the negative comments that have appeared on the associated web site. The article also highlighting the television commercials now airing. I’ve seen these myself on TV here, and a video […]
First in the UK, Ask rolled out a guerilla marketing campaign aimed at sparking an "information revolution" to choose Ask over Google. Now a different yet still mysterious campaign is underway in the US by Ask. Valleywag reports about billboards on Highway 101 between San Francisco and San Jose saying "The Algorithm Killed Jeeves" [Ask’s […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
April Fools Day was yesterday, and the search engines along with others in the search world, went all out. Here is a roundup of the different pranks played.
I had lunch with Ask CEO Jim Lanzone last Thursday when he was here in the UK, and I’ve been itching to tell the news he gave me under embargo. Now it’s up, with Jim himself sharing the announcement in video. Kevin Federline’s Search With Kevin service is being acquired and merged with Ask, to […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web: