In a major change of direction, Oakland, California-based Internet search and media firm Ask.com will  reevaluate its aspirations as a mainstream search engine, shifting from competing against search leaders Google and Yahoo to becoming a site catering primarily to women in the United States, and eliminating 8 percent of its workforce, the company announced Tuesday. The jobs being cut are in areas not related to the firm's new direction, Ask.com said, also noting that some new jobs would be created to help with the upcoming changes in direction. Ask.com Workforce Cuts and Changes in Focus The workforce cuts amount to about 40 jobs out of 490 total positions at Ask.com, which receives almost 45 million visitors each month, as the firm looks to shake up its core search business to focus on a demographic  of women, who represent about 65 percent of its users, rather than trying to compete head to head with Google to be "all things to all people," an Ask.com official told the Marin Independent Journal. New chief executive Jim Safka, who succeeded previous CEO Jim Lanzone in January, examined Ask.com's user base and what they want, determining that women represent the largest demographic, particularly those in their late 30s residing in the Midwest and Southeastern United States, according to an interview Safka held with Reuters. In the mainstream search engine market it is estimated that women account for about 48 percent of users, while the higher percentage Ask.com draws represents new opportunity to Safka. "If we can do a better job of understanding who these customers are and answering their questions, we will grow," Safka told Reuters. The new direction at Ask.com was to be announced internally to the firm's employees Tuesday by Safka, according to Reuters. Details Forthcoming About Changes Safka plans to view Ask.com's future through a new lens focusing on women. "What this means is everything we do will be put through this strategic filter," said Safka, telling Reuters that the firm will look to boost  advertising revenue by increasing the average number of search queries consumers make using the site. Speculation has swirled over the past week that Ask.com could look to outsource its search business to Google, complementing a $3.5 billion online advertising agreement the firms already have, however Safka said his firm is committed to retaining its search technology, according to the Reuters interview. "We've got world class technology and technologists that we're going to put on this task, and we're going to be adding to that group of people," said Safka. Next week will see Ask.com's parent company IAC/InteractiveCorp. face off against primary stakeholder Liberty Media in a court case that will determine whether IAC chief executive Barry Diller's media conglomerate can split up into four separate publicly-traded companies even though it would weaken Liberty's influence over the firm. Diller's plan would place Ask.com front and center as the key property in IAC's restructuring. Gains Scarce Competing Against Google During February Ask.com launched a news searching Web site called BigNews that incorporates video, image, blog content and popularity rankings from community news site Digg with geo-targeted tracking features. Over the past several years Ask.com has spent millions of dollars promoting its search service and entering new markets, however gaining ground on Google has proven to be an elusive task. During January 2008 Ask.com held 4.5 percent of the search market, which made it the fifth most popular search engine, a modest 0.2 percent increase from the 4.3 percent share it held during December, according to figures from Web traffic analysis company comScore announced earlier this month. Over the next several months Safka will detail his plans for Ask.com, looking to take advantage of a customer base more than three times as likely to submit search queries in the form of natural language questions than the more traditional keyword method, according to his Reuters interview, in a change that could hearken back to the firms days as "Ask Jeeves," which sought to specialize in answering common questions. "You start to see a more human and emotional side to Ask because it's an emotional category," Safka said. "You can contrast that with our competitors. By definition they want to be robotic," he added. Ask.com Exits Mainstream Search, To Focus on Women, Eliminate Jobs Ask.com, which was purchased by IAC in 2005 for $2.3 billion, has spent years trying to compete against Google and Yahoo in the mainstream search market. With the changes announced Tuesday, Ask.com looks to return to its roots. "Today, we unveiled a new direction for Ask.com," Safka said in a statement Tuesday. "Moving forward, we will focus on our core customers, and what they come to Ask.com for most: answers. Our loyal base of 45 million unique users come to Ask.com for answers at a rate that is three times more than any other major search engine," Safka added. Should Microsoft succeed in its hostile takeover bid for Web pioneer Yahoo, which is the second most used search engine firm, the Ask.com move away from mainstream search could leave only two major search engine choices in Google and Microsoft, a situation some analysts see as potentially limiting for consumers looking for innovation and variety in online search. One member of the popular online discussion Web site operated by WebmasterWorld, a group of mostly technically savvy search engine marketing (SEM) professionals and webmasters founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, sees the Ask.com move as one of the better choices under the difficult circumstances the firm is facing. "It is a smart move if you ask me. With a 4.5 percent market share, there wasn't much room for Ask.com to grow, and the expenditures to compete with Google just aren't worth it anymore," said the WebmasterWorld member, who used the handle "pageoneresults." One longtime Ask.com supporter, search industry writer Lisa Barone, lamented the changes taking place at the firm. "I know today’s decision is not what the people at Ask.com wanted. It’s what Barry Diller wanted," Barone wrote on a search industry blog, expressing sentiments shared by other analysts regarding Tuesday's Ask.com move. Related Links:
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12:30 am on Mar. 6, 2008 (utc 0)