Competition among businesses on the Internet is strong. As such, even the major search engines are looking for new and innovative methods for meeting the needs of Internet users. Ask.com is no exception.

Ask.com, which was originally known as Ask Jeeves, is an Internet search engine that was created in 1996 by Garret Gruener and David Warthen. Originally, the software used by the search engine was developed by Gary Chevsky, but the search engine has evolved a great deal since it was originally founded.

The original marketing angle of Ask.com involved the use of Jeeves, which was an illustrated valet referred to as the “gentleman’s personal gentleman.” The concept was that Jeeves would go out and search the Internet for users in order to bring back the information they were seeking.

The original concept behind Ask Jeeves was to allow the user to get answers to questions asked using natural language rather than just with a keyword search. As such, it was the first search engine to operate in such a manner. Ask.com holds true to this original formula, though users are no longer guided through the Web with the help of Jeeves, who was completely phased out by February of 2006. Nonetheless, Ask.com remains one of the most user-friendly and intuitive search engines available and its technology has been bought and used by other corporations, including E*Trade, Toshiba, and Dell.

As more and more search engines entered the scene and indexed larger numbers of web sites, Ask Jeeves started to lose some of its customers. As a result, the company began to rework its software in order to allow users to conduct keyword searches in addition to the question asking format. Ask.com still ended up behind other search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo!, but actually managed to avoid the computer-generated linkspam issues of the others engines because it was slower to add new webpages to its index. As a result, Ask.com was able to more readily find relevant websites that had become buried on the other three search engines.

In addition to its search engine qualities, Ask.com owns a number of other sites. Many of these sites are specific to countries throughout the world, including Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and The Netherlands. Some sites owned by the company include Ask for Kids, MyWay.com, Excite, Bloglines, and iWon.com. Due to the amount of traffic the company’s sites receive, Ask.com is currently one of the top ten parent companies in the United States as rated by comScore and by Nielsen/NetRatings.

Although Ask.com still is not considered to be the number one search engine, it is one of the “Big Four” and is still regularly used by millions of web surfers throughout the world. Even those that do not consider Ask.com to be their number one search engine choice will often choose to visit this site if their number one site does not seem to be bringing up relevant information. Often, the sites brought up by Ask.com are very different than those brought up as the top sites from other search engines, making it a very valuable tool for acquiring a wide variety of information when conducting research.

The various other sites operated by Ask.com also makes the company valuable to a broader audience. With Ask for Kids, kids can search for information on the Internet with a “kid-friendly” format. In addition, the site focuses highly on education and automatically filters out questionable content. In that way, parents can feel safe allowing their children to use the power of the Internet without stumbling upon content that would be considered questionable.

Are you or your friends looking for the most comprehensive and largest human-edited web directory? Dmoz.org is the place to go! It is an Open Directory Project which is designed and maintained by an immense, global community of editors who voluntarily rendered their time, talent, and skills to give excellent services to the growing number of net-citizens. OPD was initially founded in 1998 as “Gnuhoo” by Bob Truel and Rich Skrenta who were both working for Sun Microsystems as engineers. Chris Tollers who was the network security products marketing head, also signed on as Gnuhoo co-founder together with co-founders Jeremy Wenokur and Bryn Dole.

Unlike automated search engines which are pretty inefficient because of their inability to turn up helpful results to people’s search queries and incapability in having their diminutive paid editorial staffs keep up with increasing number of submissions, Dmoz.org grows continuously at a staggering rate. Their volunteer editors strive hard to keep their directories away from link rots so as to provide quality and comprehensiveness.
More… Being the most extensively distributed Web content data base classified by humans, the Open Directory commands the core directory services for the most popular search portals and engines on the Web such as Netscape Search, Google, AOL Search, HotBot, DirecttHit, Lycos, and many others. So, instead of combating the explosive Internet growth, the Open Directory provides ways for the Internet to have itself organized.

Amongst the wide-ranging categories you can easily find at Dmoz.org are Art, Kids and Teens, Games, Business, Health, News, Computers, Home, Recreation, Reference, Shopping, World, Regional, Society, Science, and World.

Everyone is given the opportunity to contribute at the Open Directory. So, if you wanted to express your ideas and thoughts, sign up and be heard!

The Internet is filled with a great deal of useful information. Unfortunately, it also contains a number of websites that provide incorrect information or that exist solely as an attempt to strip money from those that are searching the Internet. Therefore, finding a valuable website that contains accurate and useful information can sometimes be a challenge.

About.com strives to help web surfers sort through the muck and find information, articles, and web sites that are beneficial. The site does this by employing hundreds of expert “Guides” that help steer site visitors in the right direction when researching specific topics. To date, the site has over 570 guides and new guides and new topics are being added on a regular basis.

The use of these expert guides combined with the massive amount of topics already covered by the site has earned the site well over 34 million visitors. It has also earned the site recognition as one of the top ten content sites on the Net.
More… About.com was started in 1996 and quickly gained user attention and respect. By combining elements of other popular content sites, such as AOL, MSN, CNET, and WebMD, the site was able to develop its own unique user-friendly formula. As a result, the site was purchased by The New York Times Company in March 2005, which is where the site remains today.

In order to provide site visitors with a meaningful and unique experience, About.com carefully screens those that will work as site Guides. Each of its Guides must meet certain criteria, including:

* Individual Expertise
* Supreme Dedication
* Highly Credentialed
* Rigorously Trained
* Award Winning

In essence, the site selects only the “cream of the crop” to work as one of its Guides. Each Guide must demonstrate their expertise in the subject area through their educational qualifications as well as their personal experiences and writing abilities. Since each Guide must demonstrate a supreme amount of dedication, only about 2% of those that begin the training process actually complete it.

Many of those employed as Guides with About.com are also nationally recognized experts in their fields or are nationally recognized authors. As a result, many of these Guides are sought online and off for their opinions and expertise in these areas. In addition, 20 of the guides on the site have been recognized by Forbes as “Best of Web,” with three being listed among the Forbes “Favorites.”

Each of those selected as potential Guides must also undergo a rigorous training program. Not only does this program help to hone their writing skills, it also teaches them how to hold the interest of their audience as well as how to maintain the content of their subject in the best manner possible.

As a result of this rigorous training and the dedication of the management and Guides on About.com, the site has received numerous accolades. It has also grown the point that it offers 1.5 million pieces of original content to its readers as well as 22 different channels. The site currently offers pieces spanning an amazing 57,000 different topics and more than 3,000 new pieces of information are added to the site every week.

The expertise of the Guides has also turned the About.com community into one that is well-trusted and looked toward when surfing the Internet for valuable and useful information. It is also ideal for businesses looking for a place on the Internet where they can surround their brand with relevant information that will help bring new visitors to their sites. As a result, it is a win-win formula for everyone involved with the site.