Latest Rumor: Ask To Bed Down With Google

Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 1 of March , 2008 at 11:34 am

I’m not much for rumors. I’m a believe it when I see it kind of guy. But this story about Ask letting Google be its violator is intriguing.

I actually find this story about Ask ditching Teoma in lieu of Google’s search technology much more intriguing - and, frankly, more plausible - than Microsoft purchasing Yahoo! For one thing, Ask is already running Google search ads so there’s a relationship there already. Secondly, Ask has spent a lot of money in the last year or so to take Google on with few results showing for their efforts. I’ve seen Marketing Pilgrim sing praises of Ask for the better part of that time and now they appear ready to throw in the towel with Ask executives.

The question isn’t whether Teoma is better search technology than Google. Many people claim it is. But if better doesn’t equate to profits for the property’s owners then it doesn’t matter how superior it is. The fact is that Google is the market leader and probably will be for years to come no matter how much things change or approve with their competition. Young people seem to be more hip to using Ask - I think because they don’t like big players, in politics or business - while older people, who are more averse to change, are stuck on Google. As in most of life, the older people win.

I hope this doesn’t happen. The worst thing that can happen to search is less competition. I like Ask even if I don’t use it much. To me, it’s another product, an option. If they stop playing the game then I’ll be forced to use Google. What will be my alternatives?

Category: Search Engines

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