Ask.com Goes Local With AskCity
Posted on December 4, 2006
Ask.com has rolled out Ask City, a new local search service. The New York Times reports that early reviews of the service are positive.
On Monday, Ask.com is introducing AskCity, a service that integrates maps with information about local businesses, restaurants, concert and movie listings and reviews.Search Engine Land reports that AskCity includes information about businesses, movies, events and directions using data from InterActiveCorp (IAC) properties including Citysearch, Ticketmaster, Evite, Trip Advisor, ReserveAmerica, OpenTable, Yelp, Fandango, InsiderPages and Judysbook. A more detailed review can be found here on Screenwerk.These so-called local searches already account for 10 percent of all Internet queries and are expected to grow faster than other searches. They are also seen as a way to tap into tens of billions in spending by small businesses, which have yet to switch much of their advertising dollars to the Internet.
Early reviews of the service by analysts are positive, and Mr. Lanzone said AskCity, which makes use of data from other IAC businesses like Citysearch and Ticketmaster, was just the kind of service that was slowly helping Ask build a top-quality search engine.
"Right now, the focus is almost entirely on improving the user experience," Mr. Lanzone said. "This is the product that, to date, we are the most proud of. It is going to have a huge impact for people who use Ask."
