Ask Com

Ask.com fields one-tenth of the Web search queries that Google Inc. does. So why bother? It turns out there's a lot of money to be made on winning even 5% of the market for search, a $7-billion business that's growing more than 30% a year, according to research firm EMarketer Inc. To keep its 30 million U.S.

Ask.com became the first major search engine to promise users it won't store data on their queries, giving people concerned about privacy the option of conducting research on the Internet in relative anonymity. The move comes amid increasing concerns about the release of search information through leaks or subpoenas.

Ask.com on Monday became the first major search engine to let users decide whether it can keep records of their queries in a move hailed by privacy watchdogs. The new Ask.com function could protect people as technology that tracks digital footprints becomes increasingly sophisticated, allowing marketers to mine a wealth of information to tailor advertising and promotions with ever-greater precision, privacy advocates said. They said they hoped the effort by Ask.com -- the fifth-largest U.S.

IAC/InterActiveCorp., an Internet and media company run by Barry Diller, added features to the Ask Jeeves search engine and renamed it Ask.com, retiring Jeeves the butler from the website. Ask.com offers shortcuts to more than 20 search tools such as maps and a dictionary, New York-based IAC said. It also has a Web-based desktop-search function that allows users to access files and e-mails on their computers through a browser. A cartoon Jeeves appeared on the home page of the old site.

Microsoft Corp. hired Steve Berkowitz, head of IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com, to lead its MSN unit, which is battling search leader Google Inc. for Web users. Berkowitz will be senior vice president of Microsoft's online business group, responsible for marketing, sales and business development at the MSN unit and Windows Live, Microsoft said. He replaces David Cole. Microsoft is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on its MSN Search to attract users and challenge Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Forget the butler. Ask.com is playing concierge. The search engine, previously known as Ask Jeeves, today is launching a service to connect Web surfers with local business listings, movie times, events and digital maps. What separates AskCity from rival local search engines, analysts say, is the depth of information it's able to draw on from its corporate parent, IAC/InterActiveCorp.

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 -- married women looking for help managing their lives. As part of the new direction outlined Tuesday, the company, founded in 1996 as AskJeeves.com, will lay off about 40 employees, or 8% of its workforce. With the shift, the Oakland company will return to its roots by concentrating on finding answers to basic questions about recipes, hobbies and children's homework.