Ask.com Delivers Next Generation of its Site

October 6, 2008; 08:01 AM

LONDON, October 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Ask.com, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), today announces a new version of its site that includes significant relevance, user interface, and speed enhancements.

The new site, going live in the US on 6th October and in the UK on 20th October, is the result of extensive consultation with Ask.com's users whose input guided developers and designers towards creating this next generation search engine.

Cesar Mascaraque, European Managing Director of Ask.com said: "It's our business to give answers. But this time we were asking the question: How did our users want us to improve? And they were very clear. They told us they wanted faster, more relevant answers in an enjoyable and simple user interface. We listened, and now we've delivered the best possible search experience on the web."

He added, "This relaunch of Ask.com is the spearhead of a series of plans for growth and brand enhancements that we look forward to announcing over the coming months."

Better Search Relevance

Through a combination of recent enhancements to its proprietary search technology, Ask.com has made significant advancements in its core relevance versus this time last year.

Better Search Speed

Additionally, Ask.com has reduced the loading times for its site by 67% versus this time last year, helping to get customers the best answer faster - and this improved site latency has already had a positive impact on customer frequency and retention rates.

The Best Answer, The First Time, Everytime

"Ask.com's goal is to reduce the average number of clicks it takes customers to find what they are searching for online. We want to get from three clicks to one click of the search box," said Cesar Mascaraque.

Ask.com is now able to deliver more direct answers front and centre on the results page, helping customers avoid the back and forth clicking between Web pages. For Reference-related searches like "Is it safe to eat seafood during pregnancy?" Ask.com now pulls and instantly displays answers such as "Fresh, raw seafood is potentially risky because it can contain parasites," real-life examples taken from user-generated and professional content sites, right on the results page.

Building on Ask3D's innovation, Ask.com has simplified its user interface and now ranks and integrates content from a broader and more comprehensive set of content types - such as recipes, blogs, images, music and videos - right into the centre panel - with more content such as breaking news, shopping and business listings to follow.

Search Technology and Performance Advancements

Building on these enhancements, Ask.com will shortly be launching innovative new DADS (Direct Answers from Database)SM, DAFS (Direct Answers from Search)SM, and AnswerFarmSM technologies which break new ground in the areas of semantic search, web extraction and ranking. These product enhancements are the first of several new search technology innovations Ask.com will introduce in the coming months across its site.

About Ask.com

Ask.com is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACID). The Ask Network of sites has more than 138 million worldwide unique monthly users, according to August 2008 comScore data. Ask.com syndicates its search technology and advertising solutions to a network of affiliate partners. Combined with other Internet properties of IAC, the total unduplicated reach of the Ask.com networks among U.S. Internet users is 42.5% and 17.2% globally.

Ask.com UK

The Ask Network remains the 13th largest Internet brand in the UK, reaching 25.6% of the Internet Population [source Nielsen]. Over the last 12 Months, Ask.com's unique users have grown 38.6%, faster than any of the other major search engines. From July to August alone, Ask.com unique users grew from 6.5 million to 6.9 million. Source - Hitwise August 2008

    
    Ask.com Media Contacts:

    Nadia Kelly
    PR Director
    nadia.kelly@ask.com
    T: +44-(0)207-400-2222