I Guess We Can Forget About Ask
Here’s one wacky business decision
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — In a dramatic about-face, Ask.com is abandoning its effort to outshine Internet search leader Google Inc. and will instead focus on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives. … As part of the new direction outlined Tuesday, Ask will lay off about 40 employees, or 8 percent of its work force.
With the shift, the Oakland-based company will return to its roots by concentrating on finding answers to basic questions about recipes, hobbies, children’s homework, entertainment and health.
I know many school librarians struggle to get students to try different search engines. But now that it sounds like Ask will be as cheesy as Yahoo! Kids, I think we need to focus energy on teaching more in-depth Google strategies, instead of trying to buck the trend.