Is Ask.com working towards a partnership – Could this be a future Yahoo deal?
We all know Ask.com from when it was AskJeeves. The business model at that time for Ask was not to find sites through its search function but to find an answer to the question being asked. Fast forward through a literal “generation” of web 1.0 to 2.0 and now Ask.com is after a new target.
Ask has entered into a variety of partnerships to secure its business online as a leading search engine. At present the market is dominated by the internet’s big three: Google, Yahoo and MSN Live. The market is hardly saturated as just three engines deliver more than 90% of the web’s traffic.
Ask has a huge advantage in that the site is well known with people who have used the internet for some time. Unfortunately those same people are not using the engine, rather they’re Googling or Yahooing for an answer.
In an effort to take some marketshare Ask.com has partnered both with NASCAR and now with Symantec which makes the popular anti-virus tool Norton. Ask’s search engine will be featured in the newest release of the anti-virus software which will use its web database to find answers on malware already installed on user’s computers. The search function will also identify the dangers associated with individual virus-like programs.
I like this arrangement for two reasons. First it works. And second, Norton users are the perfect target demographic for Ask.com
Often I wonder why Internet Explorer remains the top web browser when Mozilla’s Firefox clearly has the lead in user interface and security. Then I remind myself that most people who buy a computer use what is already on it. Rather than spend five minutes to find and download a quality browser most users will instead use what they have.
Norton is installed in 30 day trials on a huge number of PCs each year which gives Ask new exposure to every single person who buys a Windows computer over the next few years and brands the name with a popular software.
Not only does this agreement give Ask exposure, it gives it credibility which is one of the most important things when it comes to building a brand online.
I am not insisting, nor placing my own money on the possibility that Ask is pushing itself to the point where it could become an acquisition play, however their attempts to brand the engine certainly gives me that idea.
Going back to the fact there are only three major players there is plenty of room for a fourth. I personally have not used Ask.com in years but were I to use it today and find exactly what I need, I’d use it all the time. We like to get the best answers first, and if Ask can deliver they’re going to start taking some marketshare.
Currently Ask.com is the fourth leading online search engine with just a 4% share. Compare that to Google with a 63% share and you might see why Ask has no small task ahead of it. On the other hand, the third leading search engine MSN currently scores 11% of the market. That’s something that is in range with this branding opportunity.
At this time there is no good way to place on Ask.Com. Their parent company IACI owns a variety of other internet properties so you might have to buy some good names with some bad names.
