Does Ask.com Have a Chance Against Google?

A few days ago while watching tv, I saw a commercial for the search engine Ask.com. The commercial showed many features I had never seen from a search engine. I decided to use Ask the next 3 times when I would typically have used Google.

The first thing I noticed when I went to the Ask homepage is that it looked strikingly similar to Google:

• Clean layout
• Search box in the center of the page
• Links in upper right and bottom of the page

However, it did have more visual appeal than Google’s simple blue hyperlinks.

Homepage for Ask:

Homepage for Google:

Using a Search Engine as a Spell Checker

Problem #1: My first need for a search engine came in the form of needing a spell checker. I wasn’t sure how to spell the word “renege”, and Microsoft Word indicated that my attempts of “reneg” or “renig” were incorrect. Typically I’d type a word into Google to get a recommendation of another spelling.

Ask’s Solution: At first, I was pleasantly surprised to see prominent links returned in the left navigation. Google puts all helpful links up at the top, and I loose them when I scroll down. But Ask kept them neatly in a frame on the left so I could scroll the right-hand search results without loosing context. Ask’s links promised to take me to the definition and spelling of “reneg”, and I started to wonder whether Word was incorrect and I really had spelled the word right afterall.

However, when I clicked on those links, I was confused by the result set that was returned on the right. Ask gave no indication that I had typed in a word that doesn’t exist in the English language.

Google’s Solution: I abandoned Ask and went over to Google to give the same search term “reneg” a try. The sentence at the top of the page said “Did you mean: renege?” And the first search result explained that “reneg” is a misspelling of the word “renege”. I used the correct spelling in the note I had been writing and went along with my day.

Searching to Look Up a Specific Location

Problem #2: My next urge to use Google came when a coworker asked what beaches I had visited on my recent trip to Costa Rica for a friend’s wedding. I told him about the lovely volcanic beach where the ceremony was held, and I wanted to send him a link to see the black sand beach.

Ask’s Solution: When I typed the name of the beach “ocotol” into Ask, this time I got a message at the top: “Spelling Suggestion: octal”. (Why didn’t this feature come up for “reneg”?) I followed Ask’s suggestion, and the search results that came back were all about octal numbers—not at all what I wanted.

Google’s Solution: When I typed the same term “ocotol” into Google, it suggested I try “ocotal”, not “octal” as Ask had suggested. Again, I followed the suggestion, and the entire page of results centered around Playa Ocotal in Costa Rica. Well done, Google.

Searching for Restaurant Ideas

Problem #3: Yesterday the steering committee for the New York chapter of Webgrrls decided to get together for dinner, and Nelly asked if we had any restaurant ideas. I seized the opportunity to compare search engines yet again.

Ask’s Solution: At first I wasn’t sure where to begin. The Ask homepage has a feature called “City”, but I wasn’t sure what to expect in that category. When I clicked the arrow to see more categories, I saw a category option called “Maps & Directions”. I wasn’t sure which to pick, so I decided to explore the “City” feature.

After I clicked on the “City” icon, the page showed a map and asked me for a type of business and location. This was what I expected under “Maps & Directions”, but regardless it addressed my needs. I entered “restaurants” and gave an intersection of Broadway and W Houston in Manhattan, which is around the area I wanted to look.

The results had many of the features we’ve grown to expect from map sites:

• Names, addresses, and phone numbers of nearby restaurants
• Ratings out of 5 stars from Citysearch
• A link to each restaurant’s web site if it had one
• The ability to drag and expand the map without the page reloading
• The option to click on a number where a restaurant was found on the map and get more info

But Ask also had cool features I had never seen on other map sites. For example, I could save different views of the map with one click. This way, I could easily return to a saved view if I navigated too far off course. I even had links in the left nav to narrow my results by cuisine or neighborhood. Also, I could draw on the map.

Google’s Solution: I did the same search using Google Maps (find businesses of type “restaurant” at the same intersection). The search results on the left showed the names, addresses and phone numbers of nearby restaurants as Ask had, but Google did not have links to their individual web sites from search results. Here, I had to go through an extra click to get to the restaurants’ web sites.

The left nav had a second tab labeled “My Maps” which leads me to believe that I have the ability to save maps. But when I clicked on that tab, it wasn’t apparent how to easily save this map, so I didn’t use this feature. Google has amazing data mapping and algorithms, but it could use some work in usability.

The right side focused on the map and ways to navigate around and did not have extra features like drawing. However, when I clicked on a restaurant to get more info, Google showed me a picture of the restaurant, which was very helpful. (Ask did not have pictures of the restaurants.)

So Will Ask Lure Me Away from Google?

Three use cases hardly constitute a scientific test, but I saw enough to give Ask another look. We all think of Google as the master of the universe for integrating all sorts of data from across the web, so my guess is that any competitor will have a tough time competing in this space. And I’m a little skeptical with the logic backing Ask’s engine after getting some funky results with spelling suggestions. But Ask’s added map features definitely piqued my interest and will cause me to explore some of their other features. They seem to be working hard to think of small additions that would make the quest for information a little more enjoyable and intuitive.

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