Ask.com incorporates social aspects to search engine
Published July 27, 2010
Looking to separate itself from rival search engines, Ask.com announced it would be launching a new, social community-based question-and-answer service, called "Ask the Community." The platform highlights the importance of marketers establishing themselves as thought leaders among online communities.
The new service allows users to enter questions into the search engine. The answers given will be based on a combination of automatically generated information and community response, which could be influenced by corporate communications. Additionally, the service shows that consumers are increasingly looking for more specific through searches, stressing the value of thought leadership.
The search engine cited the web's social progression as the reason behind the new service. "People are using the Web as a conversational medium, ergo, consumers are increasingly asking questions (evidenced by demonstrated interest in Q&A from Google, Facebook and an entire cadre of start ups)," states Ask's official blog.
Though Ask.com is the fourth most popular search engine in the United States, it trails greatly behind Google, Yahoo and Bing. According to recent comScore reports, the portal accounts for 3.6 percent of queries conducted by American internet users. In recent months, though, it has trended upwards, albeit marginally.