• John Battelle's Searchblog, Tuesday, June 5, 2007 11 AM

Ask.com on Tuesday completely revamped its search interface--a bold move combining a new platform, a new search technology and a new nationwide marketing push. Ask, fourth in the increasingly one player search market, is doing what only a fourth place player can do -- it is betting on a new interface.

The boldest thing about the new Ask3D is its decision to abandon the ages-old 10 blue links approach in favor of a more robust, navigational approach to results combining visual, textual, and design elements. It's like the search interface moving from the 10-year-old "DOS phase" to the new "Mac or Windows" phase--an evolution of potentially mammoth proportions.

Universal Search notwithstanding, would Google ever try this approach? The search leader probably has too much to lose, unless the new Ask suddenly pulls in significant market share--it certainly turns search results into something more expansive and more portal-like. That said, Ask CEO Jim Lanzone said the number of queries per visit actually dropped in a recent test, because results were, well, more accurate. But Ask will take that--it's most likely trying to carve a niche for itself here, a la Apple versus Microsoft.

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