http://www.searchengineworld.com/ask.com/ en-us http://www.searchengineworld.com/gfx/wmwbutton.gif http://www.searchengineworld.com 109 33 /ask.com/3459165.htm Internet media firm IAC/InteractiveCorp. released fourth quarter earnings Tuesday that showed a profit slightly short of forecasts and cited a drop in the number of Web searches at its Ask.com and other online properties as a factor in revenue that fell by 19 percent during the quarter. /ask.com/3458665.htm Ask.com, operator of the fourth most used Internet search engine site, rolled out a major upgrade to its search property aimed at providing speedier and more robust first page answers to users who type questions into the site's search box. /ask.com/3457060.htm 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. /ask.com/3457036.htm Ask.com has faced ongoing speculation that it will abandon its search service and outsource to another firm such as search leader Google, with which it has a five-year, $3.5 billion advertising deal, a scenario parent company IAC/InteractiveCorp. has denied as it instead looks to a day in court next week, where it will defend chief executive Barry Diller's plan to split the firm into four separate companies, and in the process diminish control of Liberty Capital. /ask.com/3456840.htm Ask.com has introduced 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, the company announced Wednesday. /ask.com/3456765.htm Liberty Media and its billionaire chairman John Malone filed its second legal action against IAC Monday, looking to remove media mogul Barry Diller and six other directors from IAC's board, setting off increased antagonism in a dispute over control of the $7 billion e-commerce conglomerate. /ask.com/3456675.htm Internet media conglomerate IAC/InteractiveCorp. late Wednesday named Jim Safka the new chief executive of its Ask.com property, as part of several executive management changes in preparation for an upcoming move to split $10 billion IAC into five separate publicly traded companies. /ask.com/3456657.htm Oakland, California-based Internet search and media firm Ask.com today saw the stock rating of its $10 billion parent company InterActiveCorp (IAC) downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by financial services company Citigroup. /ask.com/3456639.htm Media conglomerate IAC/Interactive Corp. has reached an agreement with online video and television distribution service Brightcove Inc. that will allow syndication of video at IAC's 60-plus Web properties including Ask.com, Match.com, LendingTree and the Home Shopping Network. /ask.com/3456606.htm Ask.com, the Oakland, California-based Internet search and media company which is a part of media giant InterActiveCorp (IAC), will bring its services to the most populous country in the world within two years, as part of a $100 million initiative to start a new media and advertising company in China, according to IAC chairman and chief executive Barry Diller.