AskJeeves to take on Google

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
AskJeeves launched a new search engine Monday, going toe-to-toe on quality claims with Web darling Google. AskJeeves' Teoma.com faces a mountain of competition from back-end technology providers. Competitors include Inktomi, giant Web portals such as Microsoft's MSN, Yahoo! and a host of hungry start-ups, such as WiseNut, that hope to make a splash with search improvements. Still, analysts said, the service likely will be able to carve out a niche for itself. "It sounds like (Teoma) should be a worthy competitor to Google," said Jarvis Mak, a senior analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings. "Now they have to work on replacing them... (AskJeeves) needs a key differentiator that makes (its) search product superior, which is what Teoma thinks it has." California-based AskJeeves purchased Teoma Technologies in September in an attempt to capitalise on Teoma's search technology by expanding and syndicating its search services. The site has been in beta since last spring. Despite the heated competition, AskJeeves is confident that Teoma's technology surpasses traditional search techniques. The company said Teoma, which stands for the word "expert" in Gaelic, gathers search results from experts within a specific area. In addition, Teoma narrows search results and ranks Web sites according to "subject-specific popularity." For instance, if someone searched for the word "Mustang," Teoma.com would refine the search, giving a set of results that are about or related to the subject, such as "Ford Mustang" and "Mustang Horses." Teoma also divides the Web into local subject areas, featuring a list of authoritative sites and links that relate to a search topic. For instance, if a history professor has a page devoted to his personal collection of favorite Web sites about World War II, then Teoma would show the site under the heading Resources. "As the Web has gotten bigger, it has become harder to find these valuable sites," Steve Berkowitz, president of AskJeeves Web Properties, said in a statement. "Now with Teoma's methodology, users can feel more confident in the accuracy and relevance of their Web searches." Teoma has a long way to catch up with Google, which has indexed some 3 billion Web pages, according to the company. Teoma has crawled 400 million Web pages and has indexed 200 million of those pages, up from 90 million indexed pages when it was acquired by AskJeeves last fall. "Google welcomes any Net search engine," said Matt Cutts, software engineer at Google. "We hope that new engines will just help raise the awareness of the value of search engines in people's day-to-day lives. (But) it remains to be seen how effective any one search-engine is going to be. It's one of those things that only time can tell."
For everything Internet-related, from the latest legal and policy-related news, to domain name updates, see ZDNet UK's Internet News Section. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Telecoms forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

45 minutes ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 hours ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

8 hours ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

10 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

10 hours ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

12 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

12 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

13 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

14 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

14 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

15 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
ramwellian

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

15 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?
BugStalker

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

15 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB
whs001

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

15 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Moley

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

15 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
45283

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

18 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA
Burn-IT

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

20 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs
ewallace

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

20 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
fgvrg56

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

21 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?
Ben Woods

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

22 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule