IAC Asks for a Second Chance

Finally, search has more attitude.

IAC/InterActiveCorp(IACI Quote) unveiled a new flavor to its Ask.com search engine on Tuesday, featuring a new customizable design along with the most comprehensive multimedia search results available from a major search engine so far.

The promising new service, named Ask3D, isn't just good news technologically for Web users who reflexively turn to Google(GOOG Quote) and are consistently disappointed by the stagnant offerings of rivals like Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) and Microsoft(MSFT Quote).

It could also help investors in IAC, the $10 billion conglomerate that has bet big on the success of Ask. IAC CEO Barry Diller frequently referred to the search engine as the "glue" that would bind together far-flung online services ranging from mortgage loans to event ticket sales.

Despite the high expectations, however, Ask's share of the search market has been slipping as Google continues to pull ahead. In April 2007, Ask garnered only 5.1% of the search market as compared with 49.7% for Google, according to researcher ComScore. But Ask had 5.8% of the market a year ago, compared with Google's 43.1%. And in 2005, Ask garnered 6.1% compared with Google's 36.5%.

IAC hopes to turn the tide with its new Ask3D service. And with its slick look and intuitive approach, it might give the company a solid shot at doing so.