Questions for Scott Garell, Ask Jeeves' Executive VP of Search
Questions for Scott Garell, Ask Jeeves' Executive VP of Search: "The Emeryville, Calif.-based search company has been on a whirlwind course of growth, achieved through acquisitions and new technology. Its purchase of Interactive Search Holdings in May gave it a stake in several second tier portals and their accompanying e-mail offerings. Ask Jeeves also bought Tukaroo in June, vaulting it into the desktop search space, to which many industry watchers have conveyed 'next big thing' status.Further, Ask Jeeves is developing new technology in-house at a rapid rate. Recently added to its proprietary Teoma engine are innovations such as 'binoculars,' a graphical search tool. Simultaneously, the company dropped paid inclusion completely from its offerings. It has reported significant boosts in sales and more than doubled its Internet traffic, becoming the sixth most-trafficked Web property in June. "
[approximately] 40 million unique users a month across our properties. We have been growing faster than the market every quarter this year.
The acquisition of ISH enhanced our position in the search market and helped us build a diverse portfolio of brands that will deliver varied search experiences to varied target segments. These include MyWay, Excite and iwon. MyWay is a very rapidly growing portal, because it's so clean, so fast and gives the users what they want. It's in the top five portals on the Web.
E-mail is a very important loyalty-driving tool for those portal properties. Since we've officially closed the portal acquisition for only a couple months, we're still figuring out how to optimize it.
Q. You just renewed your deal to let Google handle keyword bidding on Ask Jeeves' search network for three more years. Why not develop your own keyword management system to replace the Google relationship?
A. It's a great partnership. Our volume drives more people into their network, and we think it's better to be building our site around the user experience, so that when people come, they're getting what we consider to be a better and different experience. It's good for advertisers and good for users.
Q. How would you describe Ask Jeeves' culture, as a new employee?
A. I think you have a very driven, hungry and aggressive team. Think about this company having survived some tough times, and then getting the Teoma technology and improving the user experience. The people who came through that have an incredible intensity and focus and hunger.
We are not satisfied with having a 7 percent share. We think there is plenty of room in this category for a third company to situate, and we're building a long-term goal around that. It's been very inspiring.
posted by Jen @ 4:16 PM
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