Ask Jeeves improves search results

The new results page, which goes live today, includes a number of new or enhanced features, while other features have been removed from the site to make it cleaner and improve the overall look and feel.

Aylin Savkan, VP of marketing and strategy at Ask Jeeves UK, said the company has worked closely with London-based HCI (human computer interaction) consultancy amberlight and carried out extensive design research to help develop an understanding of how people actually search.

From this research it has derived an innovative model based around two types of search, those that require a direct response, and those that are more exploratory and not looking for one specific answer, and has tried to develop new tools and features suited to both types of query.

Savkan said that for queries that require a direct response, for example, flights to Ibiza, its editorially selected results, called 'Ask Jeeves Recommends' are very well suited. The company has a team of editors seeking out sites that provide what they determine to be the best site for the query. This feature has been enhanced so that it only brings up recommendations when they are relevant to the search.

It has also added a 'Related Search' tool, designed for the less specific, more exploratory type of search. This gives the user a list of options associated with that subject, based on similar requests by other Ask Jeeves users, to help them delve deeper and find what they are looking for.

Other new features include images being embedded in the results page and clear labelling of where each set of results comes from. On the advertising side, the company has removed more intrusive ads such as pop-ups and skyscrapers, and is discontinuing untargeted advertising in the results page, so that the ads are only relevant to the user's query.

The redesign follows a similar overhaul to the company's US site Ask.com in April, and Savkan said that the UK business plans to embark on an advertising campaign in the fourth quarter to support the new site, like its US counterpart. It will also continue to add new features, such as embedding maps and news into the results page, which Ask.com already offers.

Last week, Ask Jeeves CEO Skip Battle said that he expects his company to make an acquisition within the next year, following several recent high profile mergers in the sector including Yahoo!'s $1.6bn bid for Overture.

"www.ask.co.uk ":http://www.ask.co.uk

"www.amber-light.co.uk ":http://www.amber-light.co.uk





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