Ask Jeeves serves up new features

During September the eponymous butler has been ‘missing’ from the Ask Jeeves search engine, but has recently returned, having discovered new features for this tool. At the moment, it is only the
US version that includes these, although these are likely to filter through to the
UK version in time – meanwhile the UK site includes a movie of Jeeves’ adventures!

So what’s new? The most original feature is the ability to personalise search results online, with users being able to login and set up a MyJeeves area where searches and search results may be saved for later retrieval, plus notes can be added if required. In addition to this, the main search results include a preview image of a website’s homepage (by hovering over the binoculars graphic), plus there are a range of other ‘SmartSearch’ options focused on different themes, including a
local search option.

Ask Jeeves has improved considerably over the past year, with better accuracy of results, fewer confusing features and now this improved functionality, which may prove to be popular. The underlying search engine is powered by Teoma, which Ask Jeeves purchased in 2002, and this is the closest index in comparison to Google. Until September, you could pay to include your website on Teoma, but this has now been removed. There is no way to submit a site to this tool now, other than being spidered through regular updates and therefore links into your site from other established websites remain important.

Ask Jeeves still remains some way behind Google in terms of popularity, but it is still the 4th most used search tool in the UK and shouldn’t be ignored, particularly in the consumer market. If you want to achieve better visibility on this search engine, contact us to find out how.

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