Ask revamps for faster Web search, more relevance

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - IAC Corp's Ask.com is overhauling its Web search engine to deliver faster results and improved relevance as it bids to win share from market leader Google Inc.

Ask Chief Executive Officer Jim Safka said on Monday his company could win customers with a search that is 30 percent faster than before. Early tests showed a 16 percent increase in the rate at which customers returned to use its new search page, he said.

The company believes it can grow market share and revenue by taking advantage of the distractions of competitors such as Yahoo Inc and Microsoft Corp, who have spent much of the year in on-off merger talks. Yahoo and Microsoft are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in U.S. search.

"We view this as a 24-month window of opportunity that we can drive a truck through," Safka said in a interview with Reuters.

Safka said if Ask increased the rate at which customers returned to its site and attracted new users, it would increase the advertising revenue it brings in.

The majority of Ask's revenue comes through a search advertising partnership with Google, which brings up links of relevant advertisers in response to a user's search query. IAC said in July that Ask's revenue per query increased last quarter thanks to the improved economics of the much larger Google search ad platform.

Yahoo reached a similar agreement with Google in June. That deal has been opposed by some industry watchers on antitrust grounds and is being reviewed by regulators.

Google is the dominant Web search service in the United States, growing in August to more than 63 percent market share, according to comScore, a Web audience measurement firm.  Continued...