January 3, 2008

Ask.com introduces voice-activated capabilities to mobile search service

Ask.com has just added voice-activated capabilities to its Ask.com Mobile Directions service. Called "Click to Speak," the new feature lets people speak their location and desired destination to receive directions on their web-enabled mobile devices.

Users of the Directions service on Ask.com Mobile will now see a new "Click to Speak" option. After clicking it, they will be prompted to speak where they are and where they want to go, either by specific address or closest intersection. Then, they'll receive a text message with a link to directions that can be viewed in either a traditional list or a turn-by-turn step format, with an additional option to switch between "Driving" or "Walking" routes.

Click to Speak builds on other features of Ask.com Mobile.

For example, the Ask.com Mobile home page offers links to key mobile categories, minimizing thumb strokes and making it easier to navigate to relevant results.

Its Smart Answers feature provides shortcuts to answers and tools at the top of the search results page and Zoom Related Search provides conceptually-related suggestions to narrow or expand queries.

In addition, Ask.com Mobile works on any mobile web browser so users don't have to worry about which carrier they are signed up with or which mobile device they have.

Finally, Ask.com Mobile doesn't require a download to get started, yet still offers features like street and aerial map views.

However, voice input still doesn't handle wit, irony or humor very well. So, don't try testing the new 'Click to Speak' service by asking it to "open the pod bay doors."

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 11:11 AM | Permalink

December 18, 2006

Searches Up, Dude! Ask.com Sponsors Surf Contest

Search and surfing will converge in Half Moon Bay, California in early 2007, when the Mavericks Surf Contest takes place. Known to surf pros and fans of the sport as the world's premiere big-wave surf event, this season's contest offers everyone the chance to surf Ask.com for all the details and get a variety of results from various Ask sources, including maps and directions online or via Ask.com Mobile search.

"Ask.com® is excited to be an integral part of the preeminent big-wave surfing event, and, as a leading search engine, to be the official go-to source for information for all things Mavericks," said Greg Ott, vice president of marketing. A quick search for Mavericks Surf Contest on Ask.com® will give fans quick access to webcasts and viewing locations, videos, bios on the surfers and the history of the event. In addition, with Ask.com® and Ask.com Mobile(tm), fans can find Mavericks images, news, maps, walking and driving directions, blogs and other information across the Web for fans everywhere. "We're excited to support this great surfing event, as well as to be a resource for all the Mavericks fans," remarked Ott.

On just 24 hours notice between January 1 and March 31, 2007, 24 legendary big-wave surfers will make the pilgrimage to the treacherous Mavericks surf break to compete for the famed title, and $75,000 in prizes to be distributed to the top surfers.

Surfers and fans alike can track the waves and stay informed on contest announcements at the official website maverickssurf.com.

Note: You would think that I got this info directly from Ask.com, since I receive a lot of press releases from the search engines, but no -- this one actually came from an PR company who has me on their list as an action sports journalist. So I just had to post since it was related to my two favorite things: search and outdoor sports.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 5:42 PM | Permalink

October 17, 2006

Citysearch Adds SMS-Based Local Search For Mobile Phones

Citysearch formally launched its text-based mobile local search service today: CS411 (27411). There's also a send-to-phone feature (see, e.g., "Hotels, Burbank CA").

Doing the same search online vs. CS411 on a mobile phone yields somewhat different results. Users get four results in SMS, which were not identical to the online search results I got for the above search in my quick test. They were, in fact, more geographically accurate. (I received results only for Burbank vs. adjacent areas.) Citysearch consumer ratings are also provided, which you would expect and are central to the consumer value proposition.

Results I received were also "sponsored." Rather than a relevant advertiser link at the top of results, there was an advertiser-sponsor referenced at the bottom. The advertiser had nothing to do with my particular search for hotels but I would expect over time that will change.

In speaking with Citysearch EVP Scott Morrow a couple of weeks ago he stated that mobile was being seen as an important channel and future traffic source for the company and that Citysearch would be rolling out other mobile offerings in the not-too-distant future.

One of the interesting aspects of my discussion with Morrow was about "lead quality" and the differences between a click and a call and a map view, and so on. Citysearch is experimenting with different pricing strategies to better reflect this concept of lead quality, in terms of what the local advertiser actually receives.

Ask.com recently launched a mobile application, the local search component of which ("business listings") is built on Citysearch content and allows users to sort by rating, which is a very nice feature. Both companies are owned by IAC.

Here's a related post on my blog about the current state of mobile local search and related issues.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:54 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2006

Ask Mobile Search Launches

Ask.com has launched a mobile search product at m.ask.com or mobile.ask.com. Ask Mobile is optimized for mobile devices and uses Skweezer throughout to improve readability and download speed on your mobile device.

Navigating Ask Mobile was a pleasure on my Treo. You click on links, navigate to them, but especially nice is the ability to type in a number that corresponds to the link you want to navigate to.

For example, pressing 1 takes me to web search. If I search on [football] as an example, you can then see the smart answers at the top of the results and then five results listed out.

Typing 1 while on that page will direct me to the first result, through Skweezer. Press 9 will give me more options and pressing 0 will take me home.

My main complaint that this was expected in "sometime in 2005" and it is already 10 months into 2006.

Here is a break down of features:

- Web Search: -- Explained above -- Stores recent searches -- Many smart answers enabled -- Squeezer enabled -- Zoom features (search refinements) -- 5 results per page

- Directions: -- Driving Directions -- Walking Directions -- List View -- Turn by turn view (nice when walking) -- Maps (explained later) -- Find nearby feature -- Sent to phone via SMS

- Maps -- Street Views -- Aerial Views (very cool for mobile - example) -- Zoom in or out -- Sent to phone via SMS -- Find nearby feature

- Images -- 3 image results per page

- Business Listings -- similar to maps and directions find nearby business feature

- Weather -- Not full weather functionality but the most important -- Type weather 10010 or your zip code into web search and you get a weather smart answer

- Bloglines link - Area Codes - Currency Conversion - Horoscope - Time Zones

Here is the official release from Ask.com

Search On The Go With New Ask Mobile Search

Ask Mobile Optimizes Search for Mobile Devices

NEW YORK, October 12, 2006 – Ask.com®, a wholly-owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) and the fastest growing search engine on the Web, today introduced Ask Mobile (http://mobile.ask.com), a new service for searching the Web from mobile devices. Designed to minimize keystrokes, increase navigability on small displays and accelerate page loads, Ask Mobile offers a special interface and search tools to help searchers find what they are looking for faster. The announcement was made at DigitalLife, a consumer event in New York City dedicated to educating consumers on what the digital lifestyle means in every aspect of life - at work, home and play.

“Mobile is an increasingly important access point for searchers,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. “The new Ask Mobile makes it easy for users of Web-enabled cell phones, PDAs and other mobile devices to take advantage of the world-class relevance and industry-touted search tools offered by Ask.com.”

Key Features

Special Interface for Mobile Users Ask Mobile offers links to key search categories directly from the home page, making it easier to navigate to relevant results. The design saves significant keystrokes for many searches; for example, looking for the weather in the 94114 zip code requires 50 percent fewer keystrokes on Ask Mobile compared to mobile products offered by other major search engines. Fewer keystrokes is an extremely important concept when considering the difficulty of typing on mobile devices and the absence of full-sized keyboards.

“Ask Mobile is designed specifically for search on mobile devices, instead of shoehorning a PC interface into a mobile product,” said Doug Leeds, vice president of product management for Ask.com. “Extensive testing showed that, by eliminating the search box from the home page and instead providing links to key search services, users were more successful in getting to what they were looking for, significantly increasing their satisfaction.”

Ask Mobile utilizes Skweezer technology that "skweezes" Web pages to present content in a format that is easier to view and navigate on small displays and increases download speed. With the Skweezer technology, Ask Mobile allows more access to Web content by allowing pages to load that would otherwise be too memory-intensive for most mobile devices.

Search Services Powered by Ask.com's proprietary ExpertRank algorithmic search technology, Ask Mobile provides users with highly-relevant search results, bringing authoritative sites within their topic community to the top of the results page, rather than simply ranking sites by their link popularity on the Web at large.

Ask Mobile provides direct access to important mobile search categories on the home page, including Web Search, Directions, Images, Business Listings, Maps, Weather, Bloglines™, Area Codes, Currency Conversion, Horoscope and Time Zones. Additional services, such as sport scores and movie times, will follow the initial rollout.

To see how Ask Mobile works, consider the following examples:

- Web: Try “Eisenhower” or “Angel Island.” Note Recent Search and ability to Narrow or Expand queries. - Directions: Try “94114 & 94607.” Note ability to select List or Turn-by-Turn options, Satellite or Aerial views and Send to Phone.

- Images: Try “polar bears” or “Jessica Alba.” - Business Listings: Try “Starbucks & 10036” or “Chinese & 94114.” Note autodial directly from listings, Street and Aerial views of maps with overlaid location pins for matching listings and Zoom and Navigation buttons.

- Maps: Try “San Francisco.” Note the unique ability to select Driving Direction, as well as Walking Directions, navigation features and option to send maps and directions to mobile devices.

- Weather: Try “10036.” - Bloglines: Quick access to the Mobile version of Bloglines, the world's number one online RSS aggregator. - Area Codes: Try “Miami, Fla.” - Currency Conversion: Try “100 EUR & RUB.” - Horoscopes: Try “Leo.” - Time Zones: Try “Monaco.”

Instinctive Search Tools Ask.com has been touted by press and industry pundits for its search tools and features, which take search beyond the traditional “blue links”, offering searchers a better way to find what they are looking for. Some of these features and tools are available on Ask Mobile, including Smart Answers, which provide shortcuts to answers and tools at the top of the search results page and Zoom Related Search, which provides conceptually-related suggestions to Narrow or Expand queries.

Availability Ask Mobile is available immediately at http://mobile.ask.com. Users accessing www.ask.com from mobile devices will be automatically recognized and redirected to Ask Mobile.

About Ask.com A leading search engine on the Web, Ask.com combines world-class search technology with one-of-a-kind search tools to help people get what they are looking for faster. Ask.com sites include Ask.com US (http://www.Ask.com), Ask.com Deutschland, Ask.com Espana, Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia, Ask.com Japan, Ask.com Nederlands and Ask.com UK. Additionally, Ask.com syndicates its search technology and advertising units to a network of affiliate partners. Ask.com is a division of IAC Search & Media, a wholly-owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI). Ask.com b-roll footage is available at www.thenewsmarket.com/ask.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:01 AM | Permalink

June 20, 2005

SearchTeria To Power Mobile Search Ads On Ask Japan

SearchTeria Partners with Ask Jeeves Japan is a press release from SearchTeria announcing the company now has a partnership to put its mobile ads on the Ask Jeeves Japan mobile search site.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:07 PM | Permalink

January 23, 2005

Ask Plans Mobile Search In 2005

I said several times in '04 that mobile search and access to info would continue to grow in both usage and the number of mobile services available.

An IDG News story: Ask Jeeves Developing Wireless Search Service, reports that the butler will have a mobile search tool available sometime in 2005. I think mobile access to Ask's Smart Search technology (ANSWERS not only links) will be a plus for the mobile searcher since research time and other issues are major considerations when searching via a mobile device.

In developing its wireless search services, Ask Jeeves will focus on providing very specific information to queries and not try to replicate the conventional Web searching experience, given the nature of wireless communications and devices, he [Daniel Read, Ask Jeeves' vice president of product management] said.

The second half of 2004 was a busy time for mobile search. We saw new releases from Yahoo (who already had a very robust platform), Google, Smarter.com, and others. Btw, RSS and other syndication formats also work very well on mobile devices. Bloglines already offers a special interface for mobile web users.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:52 PM | Permalink

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