14 DAY TRIAL // Rumors that IAC will cut down some 100 jobs at Ask.com were not totally false, but completely exaggerated the number. Only 40 people were let go, making up for 8 percent of the search engine's work force. The shovel in the forehead that nobody saw coming, though, was the announcement that Ask.com will change its strategy and besides from trying to focus on "better answering search queries posed as questions," it will try to capitalize on its core audience, married women.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the highlight in what Ask.com will become is going to be women asking questions about health and entertainment, and delivering adequate, significant search results to them. This switch clearly shows that Diller is not interested at all in competing as a search engine with Google and Yahoo!, but rather that it is intent on keeping its core audience close and that's about it. Anything more would only be a bonus.
It's a shame this is happening, Ask.com was one of the most pleasant search engines out there, and it's not just me saying it. Returning to the Jeeves way of doing things after transitioning out of it is a waste of time and resources spent, but if that's the way the mother company feels it should continue, there's nothing anyone could do about it. At the same time, preserving the target public and honing better to suit their way of doing things is the one of the positive aspects coming out of it.
As somebody commented on Search Engine Land, the best way to describe Ask.com's situation is "the little search engine that could." The rumors that the technology behind its search would be sold are unfounded, but at the same time, the partnership between Ask and Google signed in November 2007 clearly states that IAC's company can syndicate the Mountain View-based giant's search results.