Search Engine Optimization Help

According to Experian Hitwise data released today, searches on Bing increased 5 percent and search on Ask increased 4 percent in January 2010, while searches on Google decreased 1 percent and searches on Yahoo! decreased 2 percent.

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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to chat with Ask.com U.S. President Doug Leeds about the new “Question of the Day” feature that debuted this week. Leeds championed the new feature internally at Ask.com and is quite passionate about how it reflects the brand’s larger search strategy.

Leeds informed me that the Question of the Day feature first launched in the U.K. It did so well there, that they’re trying it out stateside.

“Before search, asking questions is the way we got that information,” said Leeds. “We changed our behavior. You couldn’t just ask a search engine a question.”

Ask.com receives queries in the form of a question as a percentage more than any other search engine. Ask.com has been capitalizing on that fact in the last year, sharpening their focus on Q&A.

Last June, Ask.com announced that they had built a database containing 300 million Q&A pairs indexed from various answers sites on the web. By November, that database grew to 400 million and Ask.com launched a new section of their site focusing solely on Q&A.

Featuring a Question of the Day on the Ask.com homepage is just the next step in executing a strategy focused around answers. In some respects, this reflects search behavior that has come full circle.

But as the ten blue links have led to much research, spam and confusion, search engines are increasingly returning to what people really want: Answers. Quick answers.

So does this mean Ask.com is getting out of the general search game and focusing on a niche in search? Leeds sees it the other way around.

“I strongly believe that search is a niche within questions and answers,” emphasized Leeds.

Ask found that prompting homepage visitors with a Question of the Day increased the number of queries written as a question. This was even higher for those who clicked on the Question of the Day.

Searchers who received good answers, which is likely considering the aforementioned database, increased the frequency and attention paid to Ask.com.

“What I’m committed to is getting people an answer to their question,” concluded Leeds.

That commitment reflects a maturing Ask.com, coming into their own by returning to their roots.

Over at Ask.com today, there’s a “Question of the Day” box over the main search box. Apparently, today’s question is “How many women have received the Medal of Honor?” We haven’t seen this on Ask.com before, though we have seen hints of it with specific ad campaigns, such as the one for the Night at the Museum sequel last spring.

Click on the question and it takes you to a page, where the answer appears at the top and then organic results and other Ask features such as related searches appear as well:

My initial reaction:

1. Ask is harnessing the power of questions. They get more queries as questions (as a percentage) than any other search engine.
2. Builds on new Q&A feature launched last year. Maximizes Q&A database they’ve been building over time.
3. Today’s question is targeted at women. Ask ran a successful breast cancer awareness campaign last fall and gained female searchers as a result.
4. Reminiscent of “word of the day” for Dictionary.com, which Ask acquired in 2008.
5. Better than Bing’s HotSpots - which are only visible when you mouseover specific areas. Plus, this question engages site visitors in specific actions.

Those are just my speculations. We’ll report more as details become available. In the meantime, what’s your reaction to the new Ask.com homepage? Leave a comment below to let us know.

Ask.com gets a lot of their search queries in the form of a question - more so than any other search engine. So, it makes sense that their end-of-the-year list features questions instead of keywords.

The questions are a refreshing departure from the usual fare seen on the end-of-year lists from other search engines. They’re also humorous, curious - and yes, existential.

1. How much should I weigh?
2. How do I get out of debt fast?
3. How do I get pregnant?
4. What is Twitter?
5. What is Miley Cyrus’ phone number?
6. What is the meaning of life?
7. When will the world end?
8. How long does marijuana stay in your system?
9. What are the symptoms of Swine Flu?
10. What time is it?

Ask also broke down top questions by category. And, here they are:

Top Fitness Questions:

1. How many calories should I eat a day?
2. How do I get a six-pack fast?
3. What is the best exercise to burn calories?
4. How much should I be able to bench press?
5. What is Pilates?
6. How many calories do you burn running a mile?
7. What are the benefits of jogging?
8. How long does it take to tone muscle?
9. Is yoga better for you than Pilates?
10. How do you boost your metabolism?

Top Personal Finance Questions:

1. What is a good credit score?
2. How do I file for bankruptcy?
3. How do I start my own business?
4. What is a short sale in real estate?
5. Who owns the Federal Reserve Bank?
6. How much is minimum wage?
7. How do savings bonds work?
8. What can I deduct on my taxes?
9. What is a trust fund?
10. What is a hedge fund?

Top Technology Questions:

1. How do I make a website?
2. What does URL stand for?
3. How do I find my IP address?
4. What is an RSS feed?
5. How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?
6. How do I delete my cookies?
7. What is JavaScript?
8. What does FTP stand for?
9. What is a 3G network?
10. What is a PDF file?

Top Celebrity Rumors of 2009:

1. Is Miley Cyrus pregnant?
2. Is Adam Lambert straight?
3. Is Lady Gaga a man?
4. Is Michelle Obama pregnant?
5. Is Robert Pattinson dating Kristen Stewart?
6. Did Chris Brown get Rihanna pregnant?
7. Are Jon and Kate getting a divorce?
8. Is Michael Phelps using marijuana?
9. Who is the father of Michael Jackson’s children?
10. Did David Letterman keep a secret bedroom is his studio?

Um, some of you have too much time on your hands. BACK TO WORK!

In true Ask fashion, we’ve got the answers (well…not complete answers) to what the most popular questions were on Ask.com during the year.  According to Ask.com, visitors are three times more likely to type search queries in the form of a question. Holding steady at 50 million visits per month (October 2009, ComScore), question based [...]

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When Internet users conduct searches at Ask.com, they pose their keywords as questions three times more than any other search engine. So, it makes sense that Ask.com is focused on improving the Q&A experience on their site and on the web.

Last summer, Ask launched a specific Q&A section with 300 million Q&A pairs in their database. They’ve recently reached the milestone of reaching 400 million Q&A pairs. Adding 100 million Q&A pairs in 5 months is impressive indeed.

But Ask’s focus on Q&A is not *just* about finding pairs and serving them up in search results. Ask.com has big plans for the Answers niche.

I spoke with Ask.com US President Doug Leeds yesterday and he identified the key areas of both search and the Answers niche that need solving - and how Ask.com is tackling them.

Specifically, when people want a question answered, they don’t care to sift through tons of sites to find the answer. They want to find the answer quickly and be on their way. They aren’t there to buy anything. This understanding is, yes, even good for search marketers, who don’t really want clicks when there’s zero intention to buy.

Sometimes, however, there aren’t Q&A pairs available for a given question. Think of current events, for example. There may not be a Q&A pair out yet for a breaking news event.

Ask.com seeks to solve this problem by identifying the right people to go to for Answers. So, theoretically, if you have a question about a newly identified hurricane, you could at least know a meteorologist to pose a question to, as opposed to reading up the raw reports at NOAA laden with science-y speak.

I asked Leeds how search marketers could take advantage of this focus on Q&A. He gave the admittedly common search engine answer: Create quality content.

But Ask.com’s focus on search is a great reminder to be active in the Q&A field. Sites dedicated solely to Q&A are on the rise - precisely because of their ability to precisely and quickly answer questions.

While focusing on Answers may not have some sort of tech-sexy appeal, it’s a smart move for the sixth largest network of sites. While Yahoo! and AOL are focusing on content portals and Bing is busy trying to take down Google, Ask is simply focused on improving the user experience. Hopefully, they’ll be able to gain some traction in search with this sharpened focus in an industry that desperately needs some solid innovation.

Yesterday, on the IAC earnings conference call, CEO Barry Diller said that he’d be open to selling Ask.com. The media took off with the comments as if they were new and a deal was imminent. It’s not.

A source familiar with the matter said there are currently no talks about an Ask.com acquisition or spinoff. Diller’s comments were made in response to constant questions that IAC receives regarding their willingness to sell Ask.com. Their response has always been the same.

So why did everyone run with Diller’s comments as if they were new? The “buzz” is probably more of a reaction to the recent Microsoft-Yahoo! deal plus the fact that IAC has, in fact, sold or spun off a bunch of companies in recent years. It’s kind of what Barry Diller does.

Actually, Ask.com is a cash cow for IAC. This is something that often gets lost in the “search wars.” The conversation is always framed about stealing search share from Google. But you don’t have to have a ton of search share to be profitable.

If Diller is going to sell, it’s going to need to be a sweet deal to make up for losing one of IAC’s top three revenue-generators. Google probably has too much antitrust scrutiny right now. Microsoft has cash to burn, and it wouldn’t be the first time speculation has been made about Microsoft buying Ask. Plus, in case you didn’t notice, Bing imitated a lot of what we saw in Ask 3D. You have to think that adding 4% search market share all at once has crossed Steve Ballmer’s mind. It would be a nice cherry on top of the deal struck with Yahoo!

So, yes, there’s a likelihood that Ask.com will probably be sold at some point, but there’s always been that chance.

Ask.com and Citysearch parent company IAC released its third quarter earnings for 2009. Overall revenues came in at $336.6 million down 9% from the same quarter last year. However, profit for the quarter came in at $21.7 million, up from the $14.8 million loss suffered last year. The profits are largely due to the sales of OpenTable and Match Europe.

IAC’s Media and Advertising Division, which contains Ask, Dictionary.com and Citysearch (among others), brought in $172.3 million in revenues, down 11% from last year.

Ask.com has seen a decrease in revenue per query. IAC attributed the decline to an improved search experience where searchers are using fewer clicks to find what they need. Another factor was a decrease in cost-per-click.

Citysearch also saw a decrease in revenue per query. This was attributed to a difficult display advertising environment.

Under the lights tonight at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, North Carolina, the number 96 car will be racing for more than just for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. With 13,000 names of people affected by breast cancer, Bobby Labonte will be driving the NASCAR Banking 500 to raise breast cancer awareness. The effort is in conjunction with sponsor Ask.com and their robust campaign this October, which is breast cancer awareness month.

Additionally, the car will be painted pink and sport the Susan G. Komen for the Cure logo, which is the partner in Ask.com’s campaign.

“It’s great that a company like Ask.com is using their program to get the word out about breast cancer,” said Labonte. “I’m happy to represent a company that aligns itself with worthy causes like Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Ask.com did a great job giving people a way to honor and remember loved ones affected by breast cancer.”

Normally, I’m an Earnhardt, Jr. fan, but with search, cancer awareness and my home state of North Carolina colliding for one night, I’m gonna have to pull for #96 this time ’round.

The recession has people using coupons more than ever. SEW readers know that because we cover data on increased coupon usage. Now, there’s another option for bargain-hunters.

Today, Ask.com launched a new feature for its web search called Ask Deals. It reduces the number of clicks that consumers typically employ to access online coupons and bargains. Ask uses 40 coupon feeds as well as indexing forums for breaking info on deals.

“In a tough economy and with the holidays approaching, Ask Deals arrives at just the right time for consumers as a one-stop shop for value. It’s the answer our users are looking for, too, since searches for coupons on Ask.com have shot up almost 50 percent in 2009,” said Scott Garell, President, Ask Networks.

Ask.com is incorporating their new Deals feature throughout their web search. If you type in a shopping search term, it will prompt you with search filters (see the right sidebar) that can help you find bargains.

If you type in a search term that contains a deal-finding word, you’ll notice deals at the top of the search results.

Additionally, the main Deals page is a dynamic, full-fledged coupon portal with new deals featured everyday.

What do you think of Ask Deals? Share your first impressions by leaving a comment below.

Ask.com is launching “Search for the Cure,” which involves a $1 million contribution to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The investment will occur over the next year, through December 2010.

The contribution begins with the Ask.com audience. In order to contribute, simply complete tasks such as adding the Komen theme to your Ask.com homepage and then answer breast cancer-related questions during the month of October. You can, of course, use Ask.com to search for the right answer. Ask.com will donate 50 cents for every person that adds the skin and answers the questions correctly.

If you’ve played games like Mafia Wars or Yoville on Facebook, then you get the idea. Complete tasks and earn rewards. Except breast cancer research is not a game. These tasks really make a difference.

“The Ask.com Search for the Cure program seeks to empower consumers in the fight against breast cancer through an interactive, educational experience that doesn’t cost them a dime or require much time - which we hope will encourage support of this important cause regardless of financial or schedule constraints,” said Scott Garell, president of Ask Networks.

I have to admit, as a cancer survivor (though not of breast cancer), sometimes it seems like so much money is raised through races and athletic events. There’s a sentiment among some cancer survivors to diversify fundraising for cancer research. Of course, Search for the Cure is right up my personal alley.

“One of our greatest opportunities in the fight to end breast cancer lies with the many people who tell us they want to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure but don’t have the time or money to contribute,” said Hala Moddelmog, chief executive officer of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “Ask.com has created an easy, engaging, and cost-free way for consumers to get involved and generate funding that is crucial to breast cancer research and education. We are thrilled that Ask.com has joined our cause with such an innovative program. We’re urging everyone to Search for the Cure by switching to Ask.com.”

After October, Ask.com will continue their investment in Susan G. Komen for the Cure. However, they’re not quite sure what that will look like yet. Right now, they’re primarily focused on the October activities, which, of course, coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

This isn’t the first time Ask.com has paired up with a charity. Previously, Ask has teamed up with Autism Speaks for an autism advocacy effort as well.

What do you think of “Search for the Cure?” Leave us a comment and let us know.

Dictionary.com is experiencing great success with their iPhone app. It has been downloaded 2.3 million times and has now been listed as one of Apple’s 30 favorite apps. Plus, they’re the #2 app in the reference category.

With over 60,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, it’s certainly difficult to stand out. That makes Dictionary.com’s accomplishments with their app all the more meaningful.

The App Store turns one year old this month. Over 1.5 billion downloads of apps have been recorded and reported by Apple.

Dictionary.com is owned by search engine Ask.com, which acquired the site in May of 2008.

With all the attention that Google gets for its mammoth search market share, you would think it’s impossible for anyone else to survive. But share does not determine profitability and, indeed, 4th place Ask.com is holding steady despite the volatility of external factors.

Despite Google’s stronghold, the recent launches of Wolfram Alpha and Bing have exposed what many think are glaring holes in the search experience. But plugging these holes is something Ask.com has been attempting to do for years, with solutions similar to those put forth by Wolfram Alpha and Bing.

For its part, Wolfram Alpha is built on providing data and facts, but Ask.com was already providing those answers in their results. Bing appears revolutionary, unless you searched Ask 3D during its brief run.

They say imitation is flattering, but most searchers don’t care whether Bing and Ask.com wore the same dress to the prom. What they want is results.

“We’re not going to be satisfied until every user is,” insists Ask.com President Scott Garell. It’s one of his many iterations of a prevailing mantra: We won’t rest.

In fact, Ask.com’s consumer-centric strategy runs at full speed. Literally.

This year, Ask.com embarked on a large-scale NASCAR campaign. They’re the official search engine for NASCAR, sponsor the #96 car driven by Bobby Labonte, and serve up crawl questions on the bottom of the screen during televised broadcasts of races.

NASCAR fans are one of the most loyal demographics in the United States. 25% of the country self-identifies as being a NASCAR fan and 17 out of the top 20 sporting events for attendance were NASCAR races.

The result of Ask.com’s foray into NASCAR has been a positive one. There has been an uptick in searches for NASCAR-related keywords and the searchers are more likely to stick around and use Ask.com again.

It’s not the first time Ask.com reached out to a passionate demographic. Previously, they skinned their front page to promote Autism Speaks, a nonprofit advocacy group. The skin is still available for users who wish to keep it permanently on their front page.

In May, they skinned their home page in a barter agreement with the movie Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian. Ask.com was featured in the movie in exchange for the 2-day flash image appearing on the home page. So far, the movie has made $167,706,959 at the box office.

Garell hinted at forthcoming marketing campaign similar to the NASCAR one, but thus far remains mum on the details.

These campaigns are just the tip of the iceberg for Ask.com. When Garell says he won’t rest, he means it. Last year, Ask.com acquired the Dictionary.com sites and recently launched an new advertising campaign with Toyota Prius where they choose keywords for their display ads. Toyota has liked what they’ve seen so far and has bought more advertising inventory on the site.

Ask.com is also working on their Sponsored Listings. While Google is a partner in that effort, Ask.com decided not to renew their contract with LookSmart. They’re working on the next generation of their Sponsored Listings platform, yet one more restless project on the Ask.com to do list.

Of course none of this matters unless searchers find good results. A few weeks ago, Ask.com announced that it’s Q&A database had 300 million question and answer pairs. The questions come from answers sites all over the web. Since so many searchers on Ask.com type their query in the form of a question, the Q&A database is an integral part of the Ask.com strategy. Many of the Q&A pairs are also included in the main search results.

With all of these projects going on, it might be easy for the 6th largest network of sites to lose track of the little things. But Garell sees the whole picture, including the fact that it still takes searchers too many queries and too many clicks to find the answer they’re looking for. He wants Ask.com’s semantic technology to better understand searcher intent so that users find the answer they need the first time every time.

It’s a big mission and one that not even larger search companies have been able to solve. Just like a good NASCAR race, you never know when an underdog is going to come along and shake up the leaderboard. And if Scott Garell has anything to say about it, the race ain’t over ’til the checkerboard flag waves.

We’ve known for awhile now that Answers sites are on the rise. It’s the very core of search - finding answers to your questions or problems. Bing, Hunch, and Wolfram Alpha have all recently launched with the goal of providing answers quickly to searchers.

Ask.com is also recognizing the intentions of searchers for answers. According to comScore, searchers type searches in the form of a question on Ask.com much more than they do other search engines.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that Ask.com has been incorporating a Q&A database into its search offering. Today at SemTech, a semantic search conference, Ask.com will announce the milestone of achieving 300 million question and answer pairs in the database. The database was developed with proprietary search semantic technology and aims to serve up the best answer results.

If you’ve ever used an Answers site, you know that searching on them can be tedious. There are redundancies and spam and bad information.

Ask.com’s technology aims to reduce the redundancies and cull through the information to provide the best answers to their searchers.

To access the database, go to Ask.com and click on the “lots of answers” phrase above the search box. Enter your question and then click the blue “Search” button.

Or - if you’ve already searched your question in the regular results, look for the tabs under the search box in the top left corner and select “Q&A Beta.”

What do you think of Ask.com’s approach to delivering answers in search? Give us your answer in the comments below.

If you go to Dictionary.com today or tomorrow, you’ll notice a homepage takeover ad by Toyota featuring their hybrid Prius vehicle. It’s part of a 2-day ad blitz campaign Toyota is conducting on the popular word lookup site, which sees 35 million visitors per month.

You’ll also see display ads when you look up one of 100 words that Toyota chose to associate with the Prius. It’s a new offering that Dictionary.com is offering brands and it has the potential to be quite a significant one.

This type of ad campaign takes keywords from the realm of ROI to branding. That may seem backwards, but there are a few things to consider.

Let’s say a visitor to Dictionary.com searches for “hybrid.” They’re already searching and the ad they see is relevant. Other sites where you might see display ads (i.e.newspaper sites), visitors are consuming but not necessarily searching.

We also know that display ads drive people to search. So while the ROI may not always be as impressive with display alone (compared to search), combining display and search is significantly more powerful than search or display alone.

Also, when people are learning a new word, they may associate it with the brand that’s being advertised on the page. This is genius if you’re Toyota and you want consumers to associate the word hybrid with their Prius. You can imagine how many brands will want to be visible to associate their product with the initial learning of a word.

Some of the keywords Toyota chose are obvious such as hybrid, environment, or sustainability. Other words evoke a feeling that Toyota wants to associate with the Prius including happiness, comfort and style.

The homepage takeover part of the campaign is a first for Dictionary.com. Of course, Dictionary.com was acquired last year by Ask.com, which recently ran a homepage takeover featuring the Night at the Museum sequel. Ask.com says the campaign was “extremely successful” so it’s no surprise to see Dictionary.com trying it out, too.

What do you think of this ad blitz? Is it something your brand would be interested in trying? Let us know in the comments.

Yesterday, we brought you news that Ask.com was skinning its page with a large promotional campaign for the ‘Night at the Museum’ sequel (in theaters this weekend.) Later, I was contacted by Ask.com spokesman Nicholas Graham, who clarified some key points.

The Night at the Museum skin is not an ad per se, but rather a promotional exchange. Ask.com is being featured in the film, and, in exchange, Night at the Museum is being featured on Ask.com.

This isn’t the first time that Ask.com has done this. Last fall, Ask.com had a promo where searchers could choose a homepage skin featuring the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. Ask.com has presented similar promotions for charities, as well.

A natural question is: Do people want these graphical experiences, or do they prefer the minimalistic white space of Google? But Graham says people do like it and choose to have skins on their page when given the option.

He referenced a weeklong NASCAR campaign, where, after the campaign was over, users were given the option to keep the skin. Many did.

“We know that allowing users to see and experience something other than a ‘usual’ homepage excites and captivates them, which is why our ’skins’ feature is so popular and desired,” said Graham. “It also creates strong ‘lifetime value’ in users, which is such a critical part of brand presence and growing our share of market. And also adds to positive trends in frequency and retention.”

What better way to attract lifetime users than by grabbing their attention at a young age. Let’s face it, the results on search engines are not so drastically different that Google should be dominating the search market the way it does. If Ask.com wants to steal some market share away, they need to go after younger demographics, to help them form the habit of searching with them instead. (They’ll also need to grow up with them and meet their changing search needs and preferences as they mature.)

Ask.com is smart to take actions based on what they have seen build loyalty and also to appeal to younger searchers. The web is an ever-changing world and Ask.com is clearly not out to maintain the status quo.

Last year, Microsoft’s Live Search began adding large images to the homepage with various “hotspots” that, when clicked on, directed visitors to various searches. Now, Ask.com seems to be taking that approach, with a twist.

An advertising twist.

Today, at Ask.com is a large promotional image of the upcoming film, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. If you mouseover each character or actor, a name will pop up and you can click on it and be taken to a search.

For example, mouse over Amy Adams and her character “Amelia Earhart” will pop up. Click on it and be taken to the Ask.com results for “Amelia Earhart.”

Ben Stiller is the star of the movie but his character is a fictional security guard. So, his pop up shows his character’s name, “Larry Daley” but the search is for “Ben Stiller” instead.

One weird thing is that a couple of the names actually pop up out of the image frame. For such an advertising effort, that should be unacceptable.

Of course, cynics will criticize this move by Ask.com, deeming it cheesy or desperate. But it really isn’t all that different from ads seen on non-search engines. Additionally, it’s very similar to more traditional ad methods such as billboards (hello, Times Square!) or large ads in newspapers. We only have to look at the criticized yet successful Cashback program, again by Microsoft’s Live Search, to know that the cynics aren’t always right.

Instead, I think Ask.com might be on to something here. I often see Ask.com advertising on cable television’s Discovery Channel, for example. It would be smart of them to engage in some sort of ad exchange where people driven to search Ask via a cable ad are then greeted with this new type of imaging featuring Discovery channel shows.

Search is overdue for some true innovation in advertising and it’s good to see Ask (and Microsoft) attempting it.

That’s my take. What’s yours? Comments below.

IAC, parent company of Ask.com, has acquired Urbanspoon. The restaurant recommendation is a website as well as one of the more popular iPhone apps. Urbanspoon will remain an independent brand, but its content will be integrated with other IAC properties such as Citysearch and InsiderPages.

“With a dedicated and comprehensive focus on restaurants, Urbanspoon is a pioneer in the online and mobile space with a truly unique, innovative and consumer-friendly product,” said Jay Herratti, CEO of Citysearch. “Aggregating content from across the web and blending it with distinctive features including a polling system to rank restaurants, Urbanspoon is expanding the realm of what’s possible for consumers when it comes to finding local content on the web.”

You may remember Urbanspoon from some of the earlier iPhone commercials demonstrating apps once the App Store was open. It looks like a slot machine, except you get to choose which items you want (though you can shake for a random recommendation.)

“With millions of downloads of their iPhone app, Urbanspoon has demonstrated that they can successfully distill mash-up web content and deliver it through mobile for foodies and local restaurant seekers alike,” said Dinesh Moorjani, SVP of Mobile for IAC.

Related Reading:
Ask.com Parent IAC Sees Disappointing Revenues, Plans Vertical Search Strategy
Obama to Nominate Former IAC Executive as FCC Chairman
IAC Completes Spinoff of Four Companies