I have finally found a reason to change my default
search engine to Ask X from Google. Ask X is
essentially a beta interface to Ask.com; it has
pretty much the same information as Ask.com's
search results page, but it looks and feels much
more functional.
Eventually, Ask X will have a "real" URL; in
the meantime, head over to www.ask.com/?ax=5
and type in your search words. The search results
page manages to pack a lot of information into
a clean, uncluttered format. Go here
to see the results of a search for "customer
loyalty" -- a topic I was researching last week.
The left-hand panel is static; as you run additional
searches, it doesn't change. The default is to show
web page results, but you can click a link on the
left-hand panel to see search results in images,
video, news, blogs or shopping. Below that are
suggested phrases to expand or narrow your search,
and the algorithm for generating these suggestions
is surprisingly good. For my search on "customer
loyalty", for example, the Expand phrases included
"relationship marketing", "customer retention",
"customer rewards programs" and "building relationships
with customers." I may begin using Ask X just to get
related terms for a topic.
The middle panel in the search results page contains
the usual -- a couple of news stories, if relevant,
a couple of sponsored links, and then the organic
search results. And if Ask has a canned "Smart Answer"
for the search terms, that appears at the top of the
search results. As with the traditional Ask.com
search results page, you can mouse over a small icon
of binoculars and see a thumbnail of the web page
retrieved.
The right-hand panel has thumbnails of the first three
images retrieved; dictionary and Wikipedia entries,
if relevant; shopping sites; and the first three news
items, videos and blog entries retrieved from your
search.
With the exception of video searching, which is only
available on Ask X, the functionality is the same
as if you searched Ask.com directly, but with a
new and improved interface. Give it a try and let
me know how you like Ask X.
