You Can't Ask Jeeves Anymore

The new http://Ask.com search engine, minus Jeeves the butler, has a simple home page design along the lines of Google, with an unadorned list of major options along the right side. That list is headlined 'Search Tools' and includes:

* Web
* Images
* News
* Maps & Directions
* Local
* Weather
* Encyclopedia
* Ask for Kids
* Dictionary
* Blogs & Feeds

The main search feature (Web) turns up the usual list of keyword-inspired responses. An innovative touch in this section provides suggested phrases (clickable) to either narrow or expand your search. That's an impressive concept, if it works well. It is all too easy to be led into the wilderness with search results; Ask is offering some tools to help short circuit that problem. The image section is similar to other search engines.

The News section shows signs of being a shallow concoction, in need of a full time editorial staff and perhaps some original content. For example, under world news there are three headlines that are nearly identical from three different news feeds – Reuters, CBS and MSNBC. The notion of defining a news story as "found" is a little disconcerting. As is problematic with many similar news searches, a click on one story originating from the Los Angeles Times led to a page demanding that you register as an L.A. Times subscriber (free) in order to read the story. Though frustrating, this can't be entirely laid at the feet of http://Ask.com.

Their Local search is a well done and convenient feature. Enter a product or service (e.g. "tires") and a zip code into a search bar, and Ask will bring up a list of local businesses that provide the product, addresses, phone numbers, websites if available, and a map to the location. Also included is an estimate of the distance between your zip code and the business establishment.

The Encyclopedia button will take you either to Wikipedia, or to a standard Ask search response, or both: the search results headed by a Wikipedia listing. Like the News page, this feature is a cobbled together approach to a service prominently displayed on Ask's home page.

Ask for Kids is a well executed feature, although its news resources button takes you (or your child) to a menu of other sources, such as Yahooligan News, Time for Kids and CNN for Students. There is a search bar on the kid's page that seems to work well. A random search for "dinosaurs" brought up referrals and links to several educational pages on dinosaurs and a drop down menu of dinosaurs by species inviting further research. A well designed feature.

Entering a term for search on the Dictionary page gets you an actual dictionary definition of the word at the top, followed by a standard list of search responses. If the definition feature is thorough, this feature functions just as well as going to an online dictionary such as Merriam Webster. The Dictionary option is a new and positive addition to search page design.

Their Weather button was baffled by my zip code, showing no returns. However the search results below listed a response to the zip code on http://weather.com. If Ask intends to offer a weather service, it should be as effective as the sites that come up on its search mechanism.

The Map service offers street, aerial and regional maps, which is a nice selection. However a random entry of my zip code brought up a map of a location in Poland. I've had this problem before with Google, so Ask may be getting their address data from similar sources. You have the option of entering two locations and asking for a map and driving instructions, as you would on other major search engines.

Overall, http://Ask.com is a standard search engine with some new features, some of which work well and some of which need further refinement.