Should Diller Sell Ask.com? No, Donate it to Rutgers University

Oct 30, 2009 - 8:33 am 2 by
Filed Under Ask.com

There was a lot of recent discussion and news coverage of Barry Diller (IAC) making a comment that he wants to sell Ask.com. Then Microsoft came up as a potential buyer.

You all know what I think of Ask.com these days. I think Ask.com is not about search, their technology is falling apart and they try to monetize everything as best as they can. They tried to drive more life into Ask in the UK by bringing back Jeeves, soon later Jim Safka left for personal reason (but joined a new company shortly after). Yes, and they recently killed Ask Japan.

I believe since Diller ripped the soul from Ask.com, Ask.com would ultimately be a failure. And looking back, I am sad to say, my prediction (as well as others) seems to be dead on.

A WebmasterWorld thread has an interesting conversation around should/could Microsoft "save" Ask.com? Personally, I think, why bother? I personally think Diller should donate the engine back to Rutgers University and let the old team get back to innovating.

What do you think? Take my poll:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 7, 2025

Jul 7, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Says AI Mode Rolling Out To Workspace Accounts

Jul 7, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Cloudflare: We Will Get Google To Provide A Way To Block AI Overviews

Jul 7, 2025 - 7:45 am
Google Ads

Google Keyword Planner Update Gives Breakdown By By City, Region & Device/Platform

Jul 7, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Tests Low, Typical, High Price Labels In Search Result Snippets

Jul 7, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Reverification After Suspensions Increasing?

Jul 7, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Daily Search Forum Recap: October 29, 2009