The AWS Blog

So I completely bit on Danny Sullivan’s concept of Google-Free Fridays (read the article before forming opinions about him being a Google-hater or anything). Instead of fully subscribing to the outlined schedule, I jumped ahead today and decided to check out Ask.com, which is something that I probably don’t do often enough.

In order to take full advantage of the new universal SERP (search engine results page), I put in the search term “Sopranos” anticipating a good variety of different types of content; I was right.

On a side note, I did really enjoy the final episode, and also found Robert Gorell’s analysis of it as it relates to Myers-Briggs typology pretty interesting.

From the screen capture below, you can see that Ask has addressed universal search in a completely different manner than Google (which is refreshing to see). Different types of content are organized into separate sections of the three-column layout.

Right below the search box on the SERP is a “Narrow Your Search” area, which is a huge step forward in terms of helping users identify the context of their search. A big problem with search is that often times we search for keywords that have more than one meaning, and we expect the search engine to somehow understand our intent. I’ll be interested to see how this section helps to curb that issue.

There are some downsides to the interface, in my opinion.

I believe that the sponsored results (PPC ads) are too grouped in with the natural listings. Good for advertisers and good for search engines (unless accidental clicks actually lead to high bounces and a reduction in the quality of the traffic coming from the engine), but probably not good for the end user.

It’s also very easy to accidentally click a sponsored ad. Even though the ad text and hyperlinked headline only reside on the left side of the page, you can click any of the blank space to the right of it to visit the site (do a search for yourself to see what I mean). I think that my tendency to click my mouse around a page while I’m reading it may have cost HBO a few dollars. Clicking on blank white space should not take a user off of the page!

The other minor issue that I had was with the magnifying glass in the “Images” section at the top right of the SERP. A magnifying glass may signify searching in some instances, but if you place it near a group of images, it makes me think that I can zoom in or enlarge. Strangely enough, clicking the magnifying glass icon makes all of the images disappear and brings up a search box.

Aside from these issues, I’m thoroughly impressed with the new interface!

POSTSCRIPT: Just as I give Ask.com a nice pat on the back for the new interface, Lisa Barone from Bruce Clay goes and deals out a massive beat-down because of how horrible their advertising campaigns are. I agree with her, they’re pretty bad.

There was a great article this month in Fast Company about the Martin Agency (the people who came up with the Gecko and Caveman campaigns for Geiko). Maybe the people at Ask.com need an introduction to these guys!