Ask.com leave the competition

“Today, we unveiled a new direction for Ask.com,” Ask.com Chief Executive Jim Safka said in a statement. “Moving forward, we will focus on our core customers, and what they come to Ask.com for most: answers. Our loyal base of 45 million unique users come to Ask.com for answers at a rate that is three times more than any other major search engine.” - by Ed Arnold on Mar 5, 2008 at 04:55 PM

This move should come as no surprise. With Yahoo cutting jobs and even the bulletproof Google looking at some fairly slow advertising growth, Ask.com is certain to be facing some difficult times. Getting rid of Jeeves isn’t going to solve Ask’s revenue problems overnight. Although Ask.com is sitting as the fourth ranked search engine, they certainly have been trying to improve their station. Competition is good for everyone, so let’s hope restructuring is a sign of health rather than a sign of impending doom.