Having read a very candid interview with Ask Jeeves' European MD Cesar Mascaraque this morning I couldn't help but conclude just how underrated and undervalued Jeeves is in the current market.
As the interview states, Ask are miles ahead of Google in terms of semantic ideas - a concept which is sure to become more and more relevant in the market place - but miles behind them in terms of market share. Their problem remains differentiating themselves from their competitors and explaining their purpose to less educated online users (thus attracting advertisers who quite rightly prefer to go where the numbers go). For example, if you were to question the difference between Google and Ask to a passer by on the street, you wouldn't be startled to hear the answer 'they're both just search engines aren't they?'
Of course, semantic ideas are not enough, it's the application of insight, explaining relevance and connections that really is the next step but Ask's approach is certainly an interesting one. I can't help but feel Mascaraque is selling Ask a little bit short when he says he's happy being 'number three in the market place.'
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