There’s a new search engine in town, Ask, and boy is it cool. IAC-owned Ask claims that its overhauled search service represents a “leap forward” in making information available in a coherent way. At first blush that seems to be true.
It’s an extremely well-designed search service, unlike Google which is as bare-bones and utilitarian as it has been since its inception. (John Battelle likens Google to the “MS-DOS” phase, and Ask to the “Windows or Mac” phase, of search interfaces.) I have to admit I cared very little about Google’s layout or interface as long as its algorithms delivered the goods. Now, however, Ask has shown that design might be just as important as depth in the search world.
The design enhancements aren’t strictly visual, however. Ask presents results according to a smooth but comprehensive scheme that has a lot of information layers to it, which is why the company calls it Ask 3-D. The 3-D part refers to “query expression, investigating results, and digging deeply” into content.
For example, Ask has pulled together results in a way that offers very helpful query alternatives, almost clairvoyant alternatives, actually. Ask claims that no two searches are the same and that results are “based on what previous searchers on Ask found valuable for that query.” In essence, then, Ask is relying on the wisdom of the crowds to populate part of its results.
Each query answer page (for big topics, that is…arcane subject matter doesn’t get the full treatment) is chock-filled with content. Ask provides suggested alternative material and queries worth investigating on the left hand side of the screen, direct news and web results in the middle column, and other kinds of content worth perusing (images, video, encyclopedia results) in the right hand column. Ads are now restricted to the center column, with the right hand column given over to substantive stuff.
By filling that third column with content instead of ads, Ask appears to be more meaty, more productive than Google. Plus the one-stop-shop characteristic makes Ask seem to be more comprehensive and more helpful.
Take this search on “terrorism.” The left hand column offers quick links to a lot of related topics and alternative queries including the history, causes and definitions of terrorism. The center column offers the latest news links on the topic, followed by web results. The right hand column offers images, videos, reference materials and more.
Nothing is missing that I can see and Ask offers far more material on one three-column screen than a traditional Google search would yield, but it does so without overwhelming the user.
Google, of course, is so unshakeably entrenched in society that Ask’s new 3-D service will probably do little more than give the search giant ideas, particularly given that IAC is apparently spending $100 million on one of the lamest ad campaigns ever concocted.
Still, Google’s got to be a little bit nervous. A company has come along and innovated search and for the first time in its history the company doing the innovating is not Google itself.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 12:22 PM | Print | Comments (0)
The record industry notoriously shot itself in the foot when it fought like heck to shut down Napster, Grokster, Kazaa and other file-sharing services rather than figure out how technology was changing the music sales business. It’s taken some time but at least one major label, EMI, is backing away from the customer-alienating use of DRM technology and now another label, Warner Group, is trying the old tried and true tactic of retail sales: giving away free samples.
Warner has a deal with start-up Lala.com to give away in streamed format its music tracks with the hopes that the free samples will ultimately translate into sales. Lala, which started out as a CD-swapping site, will allow users to buy purchased tracks and download them to their music players, although initially only downloads to iPods will be provisioned.
Warner will get a cut of the sales plus Lala will pay the record company royalties for each time a streamed song is played. The music won’t come embedded with DRM, but watermarking technology will limit how many times the music can be copied.
In another move that signals a smart shift in the music business’ digital strategy, the RIAA has aqreed to drop with prejudice its infamous copyright infringement case against disabled single mother Tanya Andersen.
The Oregon woman had been accused of illegally downloading music, charges that she vehemently denied and that an RIAA-paid computer forensic expert couldn’t prove after examining Andersen’s hard drive. Andersen’s attorney filed for a motion to dismiss the charges against Andersen with prejudice and the RIAA agreed to the dismissal, meaning, in essence that Andersen won.
Still pending, however, are Andersen’s counterclaims against the record industry for racketeering, fraud, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, negligent misrepresentation, the tort of “outrage,” and deceptive business practices.
Even if Andersen isn’t successful with her counterclaims, the RIAA’s agreement to the dismissal of their suit against Andersen could force the trade association to cough up (what I suspect are enormous) attorney’s fees. Let’s hope this legal capitulation is a signal that the music business finally sees its litigation strategy as a time and money-waster.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:49 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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