Back in February, I spotted how Ask.com was showing up to five Google search ads above the organic search results. It only happened when using Internet Explorer on a PC, because (I guess here) the Ask.com team didn't want to upset the early adopters who use Firefox and Safari or a Mac.
Well, it now seems Ask.com is no longer shy or embarrassed about showing these ads. A search for mp3 players at Ask.com on any browser will show five Google search ads at the top of the organic results. Here is a picture:
Yes, it is even hard to distinguish between the background color of the ads and the organic results.
Back in mid-2005, Ask promised us to reduce the search ads in order to focus on relevancy and a better search experience. But that seemed to have gone out the window with Ask.com new Diller strategy.
It just seems to me that Ask.com is going backwards. Remember, back in December 2004, I asked Michael Palka in the Meet the Crawlers session at SES:
Q: I asked Ask Jeeves why they bury the Teoma results way under the Google AdWords results at Ask Jeeves?A: Michael answered that is was not about not being more relevant, they feel Teoma is more relevant than AdWords. But it is set up that way from a monetization standspoint only. Fair answer.
Seems like we are back in 2004. Sad but true.
Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.
