Ask.com killed Jeeves. Are they killing themselves?

“The Algorithm Killed Jeeves” says just about every other bus shelter here in New York City these days.

Oh, did it now? Jeeves died? I sure hope he isn’t taking Ask.com with him.
How is a Google clone that doesn’t even seem to have improved upon on Google search results going to take over this space?

Allen Stern at CenterNetworks:

AskAsk.com has made the decision to go “all in”. All in is a term used when an opponent puts everything they have on the table in an attempt to take their share plus their opponents share. Ask wants to become the leader in search.

I agree with a lot of what Duncan wrote about earlier this month as it relates to Ask. His last point is, “If a tree falls down in the woods and no one is around to hear it- does it make a sound can be equally applied to Ask: if a search engine does a viral marketing campaign and no one understands it, does it make a difference?” It’s also very important to remember that people hate change. Imagine for a minute that a new mp3 device came on the market and it was freakin awesome – it did everything the iPod does plus 100 more great features. Would people drop their iPods and run out and get the new xyz? Yes, some will, but not most. Same case here even with no cost for changing.

Does it really matter if Google’s results are good or not? Think about it. Let’s assume Ask has better results. Will your local news personality say, “Ask it” instead of “Google it” if Ask actually did provide better search results? Will Rachel on Friends no longer say Google that?

The real question is what does it take to be able to knock off the leader. Google has reached the mountain top as their name is equal to the Internet for most people just as AOL held that position in the early 90s. Ask has launched a site called “Information Revolution” to help them get the word out in an “underground” style. Danny Sullivan has a very indepth review of the campaign.