Posts filed under 'Ask.com'
Microsoft® Office Live today announced that it is adding Ask Sponsored Listings to its adManager Beta search advertising service. adManager enables small businesses to purchase and manage search-based keyword advertising easily and affordably directly from the Microsoft Office Live platform. Ask Sponsored Listings joins the MSN® network and Live Search as distribution sources for Microsoft Office Live customers’ search ads.
Ask Sponsored Listings (ASL) is an automated, open-auction system that allows search marketers to purchase, manage and optimize pay-per-click and contextual advertising campaigns on the ASL publisher network, including Ask.com.
As more consumers are making purchase decisions online, search marketing has emerged as a $15.8 billion global industry, and experts expect it to grow to $44.5 billion over the next five years. Search is also the second most commonly used application on the Web, with 550 million searches daily in the United States, according to Piper Jaffray & Co.* Local search is also catching on as more businesses want to be able to target their ads to a specific region; in 2006, local search accounted for approximately 15 percent of total online ad spending.** adManager is heeding these trends by offering small businesses a solution to develop a national or locally targeted search-engine advertising campaign in no time that can be managed across multiple search engines.
“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 product management and marketing for Microsoft Office Live. “Adding Ask Sponsored Listings to our adManager service gets us one step closer to our goal of providing small businesses with an all-inclusive search engine marketing service.â€
Cetinok continued, “Many small businesses feel that search engine marketing is a complicated and expensive process, and we want to demonstrate to our customers, especially those without a lot of time or budget, that pay-per-click advertising on adManager can be simple and affordable. adManager will help our small businesses promote their companies to the millions out there using the Internet to search for products and services.â€
James Speer, general manager of search marketing at IAC Advertising Solutions, said, “The Ask Sponsored Listings search advertising network reaches over 59 million monthly unique users. The integration of Ask Sponsored Listings with Microsoft Office Live makes it easy for marketers to extend their pay-per-click ad campaigns to our publisher network.â€
Search ads are text-based ads displayed on a search results page. They look very similar to search results displayed in the main body of the page; however, they are labeled as advertisements. To start the search engine marketing process, businesses can bid on keywords related to their services and products; their ad then has the potential of appearing when customers submit keyword searches on the Internet. Advertisers are charged only when their ad is clicked, which makes search advertising highly efficient.
adManager facilitates the pay-per-click advertising process for small businesses. Once a small business sets up an account with adManager, it can immediately select keywords to create its ads and set its bid amounts. adManager will work within the company’s budget, as well as target the campaign at the local or national level. In addition, the service will show results through detailed reports that describe which keywords are driving customers to the advertiser’s Web site.
July 17th, 2007
Ask.com today unveiled Ask3D, a completely re-engineered and redesigned version of Ask.com. Ask3D includes powerful new search technology, an innovative three-panel design, and unique new features that give people what they need, faster.
With the new version of Ask.com, people get the most relevant and customized information they need from the best range of content available, including videos and music clips, and makes it all immediately accessible on one page. Ask3D replaces the previous version of Ask.com and is now available at www.ask.com.
“The new Ask.com is a complete redefinition of the search experience,†said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. “On average, it takes people four queries to find what they are searching for online. This is because search engines have forced people to wade through endless lists of links, and refine query after query, to find the right information.â€
“Ask3D reduces the amount of hunting and pecking it takes for people to find what they need. We do this by delivering the right information, from the deepest range of content, all on one clean and simple page. With Ask3D, we are taking a leap towards the future of search.â€
Customized Results
Ask3D understands that no two searches are ever the same, therefore no two search result pages should be exactly alike. “Morph,†Ask3D’s new algorithmic content-matching and ranking technology, is the underlying technology that delivers the most relevant content for each search query, and places that content onto one single page. Morph chooses from content of all types, including Web pages, images, video, music clips and news, and transforms the page to each individual query.
Morph technology works in tandem with Ask.com’s unique ExpertRank algorithm, which determines the most relevant search results by identifying expert communities on the Web instead of simply displaying links by popularity. The combination of Morph and ExpertRank enables Ask.com to understand each person’s needs and provide them with what they want, faster.
More Information, Elegantly Displayed, All On One Page
Ask3D’s innovative three-panel design displays more customized results, taken from the best range of content available on the Web, all on one page. Representing the three dimensions of search, Ask3D’s panels include:
– “Query Expression†in the left panel. This panel serves as the search “control panel,†where people can quickly refine their search without ever having to leave the page by offering automatic suggestions to help narrow, expand or find related search terms. This service, called “Zoom Related Search,†is the number one most-used feature on Ask.com and relied on for more than 30 percent of all searches;
– “Results†within the center panel. Here, people can find their primary search results with links to Web pages and immediately preview sites directly from the results page by using an upgraded “Binoculars†feature, saving significant time and effort. Binoculars let people preview a Web page and are now 50 percent larger and faster than before. They also offer information such as the number of pop-ups on a given site, whether or not a site is Flash-based, and the amount of time it will take a site to load on a 56K connection. The top of this panel also shows the top Smart Answer, which provides quick snippets of information to help people get what they need, faster;
– “Content†within the right panel. This panel provides people with valuable information that goes beyond standard links to Web pages. The right panel offers a wide variety of content including images, news items, blogs, weather, time, videos and music clips. People can even preview videos and listen to music clips, right from the results page. Where most other major search engines serve ads in this area, Ask3D delivers even more content and continues to offer the fewest number of ads on a page.
Enhancing the Search Experience with New Innovations
Ask3D offers people additional new tools and features to make their search experience faster and easier:
– An All-New Homepage. Ask.com has a new homepage and offers customizable backgrounds that let people choose from a variety of designs to personalize their search experience. This summer, people will be able to upload their own images to customize their backgrounds even further. The new Ask.com also now features bold icons on the homepage to make it easier for people to search for specific content such as images, news and blogs. Additionally, Ask3D now offers search suggestions to help people more easily find what they need.
– See and Hear More, Right From the Results Page. People can now see video previews, listen to music clips, or even search through specific content such as images and news, all from the main results page. By simply hovering a mouse over video images, people can now preview video clips without having to navigate away from the page. People can listen to a music clip by simply clicking on the name of a song within the Ask3D results page. Also, Ask3D offers an image rollover feature, which enlarges an image so that people can see it in more detail.
– Location-Based Results. Ask3D now offers Smart Answer search results based on a person’s location. When people use Ask3D to search for “Starbucks,†they will see the locations nearest to them. When searching for “Gwen Stefani,†Ask3D lets people know when she is performing locally.
– Introducing Video Search. Now on Ask.com, people can find their favorite videos and preview clips right from the search results page. People can also filter results by video types, such as Flash, QuickTime and RealPlayer, or by length.
– Finding Images, Faster. With new filtering capabilities, people can now sort images by a wide range of categories including size, Buddy Icons, color, black and white and various media types.
For a complete list of features at Ask.com, please go to: http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/site_features.shtml
June 5th, 2007
Ask.com today unveiled a comprehensive new creative campaign featuring a series of television, outdoor, online and print advertisements centered around the “The Algorithm.” Created by award-winning advertising agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, “The Algorithm” represents the initial phase of a year-long campaign that promotes “The Algorithm” as the secret ingredient that powers Ask.com and binds the search engine’s innovative products together.
“The algorithm is the core component of a search engine that, combined with features and tools, determines the results searchers get. However, a little like the engine in your car, most people don’t give it much thought,” said Greg Ott, Ask.com’s vice president of marketing. “With this campaign, we want people to know that all search engines are not the same, and the algorithm they use is important.”
Beginning May 2nd, two television spots will run on major networks and cable during morning, prime time and late night programming. One spot, entitled “Daddy,” features a child telling his father that a classmate was teased at school because her parents use a “lame algorithm.” After being reassured by his father that “your mom and I get everything we want with the most powerful algorithm on earth,” the child whispers proudly to himself, “I knew it!” Another spot, entitled “BBQ,” features four friends standing around a barbecue grill. Three are telling stories about their experiences with the algorithm when the fourth friend, succumbing to peer pressure, jumps in with his own story but clearly has no clue what an algorithm is or does. The other three shame him into admitting his lie.
The outdoor campaign, which appeared unbranded during the month of April to build initial buzz and awareness, features thought-provoking lines like: “The Algorithm Killed Jeeves” and “The Algorithm Is From Jersey.” The out-of-home ads will appear on billboards, bus shelters and transit stations in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and will be branded Ask.com during the course of this week. The online component of the campaign features creative similar to that of the out-of-home ads and will run on a wide variety of sites, including CNET, MySpace, NYTimes.com, Salon.com, Slate and YouTube.
“An algorithm is the central underpinning of a search engine, but it’s a funny word that most people do not hear everyday, if at all,” said Alex Bogusky, chief creative officer at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. “The new creative is designed to introduce the concept of an algorithm at a high level and inject the word into the consumer arena. We want to get people talking about the algorithm, wondering what it is, while also sparking additional interest in Ask.com and the overall concept of search.”
Ask.com’s algorithm takes a differentiated approach to relevance ranking. Called ExpertRank, the algorithm provides a unique view of the Web for searchers, helping them find what they are looking for better, faster.
May 3rd, 2007
Some months ago Google, Live.com and Yahoo! have teamed up to support sitemaps as an industry standard, that makes it easy for webmasters to get their content to all search engines quickly. Today, they have announced a new addition to their service, called Auto-Discover. You can specify the location of the Sitemap using a robots.txt file. To do this, simply add the following line:
Sitemap: <sitemap_location>
The <sitemap_location> should be the complete URL to the Sitemap, such as: http://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
This directive is independent of the user-agent line, so it doesn’t matter where you place it in your file. If you have a Sitemap index file, you can include the location of just that file. You don’t need to list each individual Sitemap listed in the index file.
In addition to this, Ask.com is now also supporting Sitemaps.
April 11th, 2007
LookSmart announced today, that Ask.com has extended its license of LookSmart’s AdCenter for Publishers through 2009. Ask.com leverages LookSmart’s AdCenter as a component of its Ask Sponsored Listings PPC advertising program.
Ask Sponsored Listings (ASL) is an automated open-auction system that allows search marketers to purchase, manage and optimize campaigns on Ask.com and its publisher network. Offered through IAC Advertising Solutions, ASL processes more than five billion queries each month, and supports over 30,000 advertisers bidding on more than 10 million keywords.
LookSmart’s AdCenter for Publishers is designed for all types of online media companies, providing an auction platform, algorithmic ad server and a reporting engine. The platform offers detailed reporting for both the publisher and the advertiser, allowing both to optimize pricing and ROI.
LookSmart also provides an API which allows agencies and large advertisers to interface directly with publishers licensing AdCenter technology.
February 21st, 2007
comScore Networks today released its monthly Search analysis of activity across competitive search engines. In December 2006, Google Sites captured 47.3 percent of the U.S. search market, gaining 0.4 share points from the previous month. Yahoo! Sites grew 0.3 share points, maintaining its second place ranking with 28.5 percent of U.S. searches, followed by Microsoft Sites (10.5 percent), Ask Network (5.4 percent) and Time Warner Network (4.9 percent).Â
Americans conducted 6.7 billion searches online in December, up 1 percent versus November. Annual growth rates in search query volume remained strong with a 30-percent increase since the same month a year ago.
Google Sites led the pack with 3.2 billion search queries performed, followed by Yahoo Sites (1.9 billion), MSN-Microsoft (713 million), Ask Network (363 million), and Time Warner Network (335 million).
January 16th, 2007
Today the search engine Ask.com has launched its new Local Search “Ask City“. The new service replaced the previous Local Search, and merged it with some third party services offered by Ticketmaster, Trip Advisor, Evite and others. Like that, you can find movie playtimes at local theaters, events and restaurantes in your area, easily. Beside of that, Ask City also offers the option to take snapshots or add drawings to a map.
December 4th, 2006
Next Posts
