Ask Jeeves has released their own internally built database of images and is no longer using imagery provided by PicSearch to power Ask Jeeves Picture Search. For the last 10 months, AJ was utilizing their own image retrieval technology on top of content provided by PicSearch.
Last March, we blogged about AJ beginning to use their own image retrieval technology/algorithm and included a link to an AJ blog post where you could compare relevancy with the AJ algorithm vs. the PicSearch algo.
Image Search accounts for 16% of all searches on Ask Jeeves.
In addition to their new internally built image database and retrieval technology, AJ Pictures also now offers:
+ “Zoom” technology to help the searcher focus and refine their picture search. Zoom is also available on web search results pages. More about Zoom in this SearchDay article.
+ More Picture Search Smart Answers
Said a different way, more iinline images on web results pages if the query string suggests that the searcher might be looking for imagery. This is a feature that AJ has been offering for almost three years.
Here’s an example. I also noticed that some general web searches, like this one for “dogs”. Note the Smart Answers box at the top of the page with a pull down menu to go directly to the pictures database and find images of man’s best friend organized by breed. The Smart Answer box also contains a pull down menu with direct access to Smart Answers about specific breeds.
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