Ask.com 429624 226051882 2008-07-16T16:45:24Z Useight 2910303 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/79.70.236.157|79.70.236.157]] to last version by Al tally (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]]) {{Infobox Dotcom company | company_name = Ask.com | company_logo = [[Image:AskLogoNew07.PNG]] | company_type = [[Web search engine|Search Engine]] | foundation = [[1996]] | parent = [[IAC/InterActiveCorp|InterActive Corp.]] | location = [[Oakland, California]], [[United States|USA]] | industry = [[Internet]] | revenue = {{profit}} $227 Million | key_people = [[Garrett Gruener]]<br />[[David Warthen]] <small>([[Founder|Founders]])</small><br />Jim Safka <small>([[Chief Executive Officer|CEO]])</small><br />Scott Garrell <small>([[President]])</small> | url = [http://www.ask.com/ Ask.com]<br><small>For other countries, see [[#International|International]].</small> | screenshot = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Ask screenshot.png|220px]] --> }} '''Ask.com''' is a [[search engine]]. It is a business division of [[IAC Search and Media|IAC Search & Media]], and was founded in [[1996]] by [[Garrett Gruener]] and [[David Warthen]] in [[Berkeley, California]]. The original software was implemented by [[Gary Chevsky]] from his own design. Three venture capital firms, Highland Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, and The RODA Group were early investors.<ref>[http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1054298/0000950149-99-001225.txt Ask Jeeves, Inc. initial public offering prospectus]</ref> == History == <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Ask Jeeves.png|thumb|75px|left|Jeeves]] --> Ask.com was originally known as '''Ask Jeeves''', where "Jeeves" is the name of the "gentleman's personal gentleman", or [[valet]] (illustrated by Marcos Sorenson), fetching answers to any question asked. The character was based on [[Jeeves]], [[Bertie Wooster]]'s fictional valet from the works of [[P. G. Wodehouse]]. The original idea behind Ask Jeeves was to allow users to get answers to questions posed in everyday, natural language. It supports a variety of user queries in plain [[English language|English]] (natural language), as well as traditional keyword searching. [[Image:Askcomheadquarters.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ask.com headquarters in [[Oakland, CA]]]] On [[September 23]] [[2005]] the company announced plans to phase out Jeeves and on [[February 27]] [[2006]] the character was disassociated with Ask.com. Ask.com owns a variety of sites including country-specific sites for [[UK]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[Japan]], [[The Netherlands]], and [[Spain]] along with Ask For Kids, [[Teoma]] (now defunct), [[Excite]], [[MyWay.com]], [[iWon.com]], [[Bloglines]] and several others. As of [[June 5]], [[2007]] the site relaunched with a new, more simplistic look.<ref>[http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/06/04/major-relaunch-for-ask-ask3d/ Major Relaunch For Ask: Ask3D], [[Techcrunch]], 2007-06-04. Retrieved on [[June 5]], [[2007]]</ref> In [[December 2007]], Ask released the AskEraser feature,<ref>[http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/07/ask-com-takes-lead-log-retention-microsoft-and-yahoo-follow Ask.com Takes the Lead on Log Retention; Microsoft and Yahoo! Follow], eff.org, Retrieved on [[2008-01-03]]</ref> allowing users to [[opt-out]] from tracking of [[Web search query|search queries]] and [[IP address|IP]] and [[HTTP cookie|cookie]] values. They also vowed to erase this data after 18 months if the AskEraser option is not set. The [[Center for Democracy and Technology]]'s positive evaluation of AskEraser<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter to U.S. Federal Trade Commission|url=http://www.cdt.org/privacy/20080123_FTC_Ask.pdf|publisher=Center for Democracy and Technology|format=PDF|date=[[January 23]], [[2008]]|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> differed from that of privacy groups including the [[Electronic Privacy Information Center]] who found problems such as the requirement that [[HTTP cookies]] be enabled for AskEraser to function.<ref>{{cite web|title=Does AskEraser Really Erase?|url=http://epic.org/privacy/ask/default.html|publisher=Electronic Privacy Information Center|accessdate=2008-03-10}}</ref> On [[4 July]] [[2008]] Ask.com announced the acquisition of [[Lexico Publishing Group]], which owns [[Dictionary.com]], [[Thesaurus.com]], and [[Reference.com]]. Combined, the sites Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com had more than 28 million unique visitors in March, according to Lexico. ==International== The company also operates localized services in UK ([http://uk.ask.com Ask.com UK]), Germany ([http://de.ask.com Ask.com Deutschland]), Spain ([http://es.ask.com Ask.com España]), Italy ([http://it.ask.com Ask.com Italia]), the Netherlands ([http://nl.ask.com Ask.com Nederland]) and Japan ([http://ask.jp Ask.jp]). ==Corporate details== Ask Jeeves, Inc. stock traded on the [[NASDAQ]] stock exchange from July 1999 to July 2005, under the ticker symbol ASKJ. At the time of the IPO in 1999, ASKJ had the 3rd best first-day performance in history. In 2003, it was the 51st best performing stock out of 3229 companies on the [[NASDAQ]]. The price of Ask Jeeves stock soared more than 500% throughout the course of the year. In July 2005, the ASKJ ticker was retired upon the closing of the acquisition by IAC/InterActiveCorp. IAC/InterActiveCorp trades on the [[NASDAQ]] under the ticker symbol IACI. The [[IAC/InterActiveCorp]] deal was announced in March [[2005]] valuing ASKJ at [[U.S. dollar|$]]1.85 billion. [[IAC/InterActiveCorp]] is a media holding company founded and run by [[Barry Diller]]. ==Marketing and promotion== === Evolution of logos === <center> <gallery> Image:JEEVES1.JPG|Ask Jeeves in 1996 Image:JEEVES2.JPG|Ask Jeeves in 2000 Image:JEEVES3.JPG|Ask Jeeves in 2001 Image:JEEVES5.JPG|Ask Jeeves in 2004 Image:Ask.comLogo.gif|Ask.com after Jeeves Image:AskLogoNew07.PNG|Ask.com in 2007 </gallery> </center> ===Information-revolution.org campaign=== [[Image:AskJeevesAstroturfingLogo.png|thumb|The logo used by Ask Jeeves at www.information- revolution.org]]In early 2007, a number of advertisements appeared on [[London Underground]] trains warning commuters that 75% of all the information on the web flowed through one site (implied to be [[Google]]), with a URL for www.information-revolution.org. Links also appeared on the homepage of Ask.com and in videos on [[YouTube]]. Both the adverts and website were designed in shades of red, white and black associated with anarchist movements. The website was intended to foster debate about the use of search engines, with messages such as "One source isn’t choice". However, when web users found out that the site was actually a form of [[astroturfing]] by the marketing company [[Profero]], the blogging arena became overwhelmed with negative messages berating Ask.com for their cynical attempt at marketing. Several users noticed the fact that for a short period, doing a search on Ask for "google" would return the information-revolution site as the first result.<ref>{{cite web |date=2007-03-18 |url=http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2007-03-18-n76.html |title=Ask’s Anti-Google Campaign |work=outer-court.com|accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> ===Television advertising=== [[Apostolos Gerasoulis]], the co-creator of Ask's Teoma algorithmic search technology, starred in four [[television advertisement]]s in 2007, extolling the virtues of Ask.com's usefulness for information relevance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://about.ask.com/docs/about/televisionads.shtml|title=About Ask.com: TV Spots|accessdate=2007-04-25}}</ref> Furthermore, there was a Jeeves balloon in the [[Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade]] years ago. ==Toolbar== [[Image:Ask with wikipedia.png|thumb|Example of an Ask search of Wikipedia.]] The '''Ask.com toolbar''' is a free [[toolbar]] from Ask.com. It is available for both the [[Firefox]] and [[Internet Explorer]] [[web browser]]s. Features include desktop and e-mail searching, [[weather forecast]]s, stock portfolios, and a zooming feature which increases the size of any [[webpage]]. The site itself has been listed as malware by several anti-[[spyware]] providers and its toolbars are the subject of much controversy, enabling its advertising partners to take advantage of known Windows exploits to self-install advertising-delivery programs without the computer user's knowledge or consent, some of which are confirmed [[spyware]].<ref> [http://www.technewsworld.com/story/46098.html "Critics: Ask Jeeves Silently Serves Software", ''TechNewsWorld''] 13 Sept., 2005.</ref> Although the company insists that Ask.com does not tolerate [[spyware]] and blames its partners (and assures that such relationships will be terminated), its site and toolbars have been blacklisted by some IT security firms and university network administrators, as well as many anti-spyware providers such as Spybot, McAfee, TrendMicro, and others.<ref> [http://www.technewsworld.com/story/46098.html "Critics: Ask Jeeves Silently Serves Software", ''TechNewsWorld''] 13 Sept., 2005.</ref> <ref>[http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ask-toolbars/ Current Practices of IAC/Ask Toolbars<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==References== {{wikinews|Ask Jeeves to remove valet from website}} <div class="references-small"><references /></div> <!-- Dead note "RetiresJeeves": [[10 February]] [[2006]]. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4701474.stm Search site retires iconic Jeeves]" at [[BBC News]]. Accessed [[11 February]] [[2006]]. --> == External links == *[http://www.ask.com/ Ask.com] *[http://sp.ask.com/docs/toolbar/ Ask.com toolbar] [[Category:Companies based in Oakland, California]] [[Category:Internet companies of the United States]] [[Category:Internet search engines]] [[Category:Desktop search engines]] [[Category:IAC/InterActiveCorp]] [[Category:Internet companies established in 1996]] [[Category:Pay per click search engines]] [[de:Ask.com]] [[es:Ask.com]] [[fr:Ask.com]] [[it:Ask.com]] [[nl:Ask.com]] [[ja:Ask.com]]