On October 6 (in the United States) and afterwards, on October 20 (in the United Kingdom), search engine Ask is scheduled to re-launch its new and improved website Ask.com, in an attempt to expand the user base.

In an online world where Google has all the answers to the questions anyone might ask, the site is striving to get a piece of the queries cake, too, by re-designing the site so it becomes faster and gives more relevant answers. However, the enhanced search technology is not all new and shiny, since Ask.com takes a page out of search giant Google’s book, European managing director of Ask Cesar Mascaraque admitting there would be some resemblance between the latter and their own search engine. Which, in his opinion, was impossible to avoid.

Ask.com targets Internet users between the ages 35 and 55, who surf the Web in search of specific answers to their questions, Mascaraque also stating that they were aware of the fact that a youngster would not take to their website.

In 2007, Ask.com launched an ad campaign consisting in a string of TV commercials that, according to analysts’ data, really paid off. The ads, featuring a dog, a monkey and one of the tallest men in the United Kingdom, took aim at search rival Google, the statement they made being that Ask wanted to rescue Web users from “sleep searching.” Moreover, as Sarah Bartlett, Ask UK's marketing director, put it one year ago, their goal was to offer people something better than just „some blue links.”

Brand image monitor IPSOS UK informed that the ad campaign had increased awareness of the website by 106%, while New Media Age revealed that in the United Kingdom, the number of unique users for the search engine had gone up by 1 million within three months.

This year’s makeover for Ask.com also includes a TV campaign, which is said to revolve around tricky questions that users ask the all-knowing Web.

Currently, the market share for Google (in the United Kingdom) is a whopping 80%, while Ask.com lags way behind with only 2%. In the U.S., the search giant’s percentage is a bit smaller, but still surpasses 50%.

As for questions to which users need specific answers, they represent only 5% of Google’s queries, while Ask.com has the lead on this one with 15% of the searches.

Search engine Ask.com was founded in 1996 as a business division of IAC Search & Media and was initially called „Ask Jeeves,” Jevees being a valet that catered for users’ need to get answers. On February 27, 2006, the iconic figure was cast out from the website.

In August this year, Ask.com reported an approximate number of 46 million queries, which translates as one in five search engine users from the UK going to the website for some answers.