Ask.com Expands in France, Italy and the Netherlands
Ask.com launched European versions of their new search offering with Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia and Ask.com Nederland. Ask is using the new launch to broaden their appeal in Western Europe and the French version apparently has a unique algorithm, possibly showcasing what Ask labs are working on in Italy; “The advanced technology used by Ask.com France provides fast and intelligent results to users’ queries. With its unique ranking methodology, it provides better search results by identifying the most authoritative and respected web sites.”
“The European search market is growing rapidly and, with differentiated search technology and a single-minded focus on meeting users’ search needs, Ask.com is uniquely positioned to take advantage of that growth,” said Adrian Cox, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Ask.com Europe. “We expect that the user adoption of our newly-launched interface, search tools and technologies, coupled with the Ask.com features that our users have come to love, will help Ask.com become a driving force in search across Europe.”
The beta sites utilize Ask.com’s proprietary algorithmic search technology, which ranks results based on popularity within topic communities on the Web, rather than simply by link popularity. This approach requires additional computations beyond that of other ranking methodologies that simply evaluate the popularity of pages on the Web at large.
In addition, Ask France, Italia and Nederland include innovative features such as the Ask.com Toolbox, which provides customizable homepage shortcuts to tools including Image Search and MyStuff, the first personalized search service for saving, sharing, and organizing search results. The beta sites will also feature Binoculars, a preview tool that allows searchers to preview Web sites by simply mousing over the binoculars icon within their search results; Family Filter, a feature protecting users from viewing unwanted adult content; and Page Translation (initially only available on Ask France), which translates English-language pages into French.
