August 14, 2007

Ask Ads Shift Direction (for the Better)

Ask has been much-maligned for the choices it has made with some of its recent TV ad campaigns featuring D-lister Kato Kaelin or scantily-clad "chicks with swords" that likely offended at least half the intended audience. It also was criticized for the obscurity of the billboard campaign before it proclaiming that "The algorithm killed Jeeves," or "The algorithm is from Jersey." That campaign stirred up conversation in the industry, but not all of it was positive.

It seems that Ask.com has shifted course a bit with its latest ad, which Ask's Director of Online Information Resources Gary Price discusses at his ResourceShelf blog.

"In the past few days, Ask.com has started to air a new 30 second television commercial in the U.S. In my view, it’s just what the doctor ordered. I think the new spot is simple, innovative, fresh and like the common like many other things involving Ask, illustrates that core search and IR is still core to what Ask is doing these days," writes Price.

The commercial, available for viewing online, is simple, with no words spoken, just the sounds of a user typing and clicking a mouse. It begins by asking the question, "Can your search engine do this?" It then shows the screen of a searcher using Ask.com, highlighting the various elements of the Ask3D updates made in June. The screen then reads "Or does it just do this?" and then shows a standard Google search results page with "ten blue links."

The ad does a good job of highlighting the features of Ask.com, and is sure not to offend anyone...two things that could not be said about some of its previous commercials. I still like the TV commercials that cryptically discuss "the algortithm," but a good mix of ads showing off the actual search engine can work in tandem with those ads to make a much better campaign than those of the "chicks with swords" variety.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:29 AM | Permalink

May 3, 2007

Ask Brings the Algorithm Mainstream

Ask.com's recent offline advertising campaign is shifting into high gear to build up buzz around Ask's upcoming Edison algorithm, which Ask's Apostolos Gerasoulis spoke about at Search Engine Strategies in New York last month.

In The Algorithm is On The Move, Ask's VP of marketing Greg Ott explains that the campaign, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, will bring the term "algorithm" to the world outside of SEO. But it will not do it in a way that might hurt people, he says:

"No, the campaign won’t go into detail about how an algorithm actually works. We don’t want to make people’s heads explode. We just want them to know there’s something in there – think Intel Inside, Verizon’s Network, Dodge’s Hemi…heck, even VW’s Fahrvergnugen – that’s different and working to make search better for you."

The Edison algorithm is expected to combine into one engine the best of Ask's two technologies: the mainly clickthrough-based Direct Hit, acquired in February 2000, and the link analysis-based Teoma, acquired in September 2001.

Ask parent IAC reported its first quarter earnings today, including a 43 percent rise in media and advertising revenue, fueled by growth in search queries and revenue per query.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:21 PM | Permalink

April 18, 2007

Does Ask Need Soul - Launching 'Black' Online Community

First an ad featuring Jesus, now Ask (IAC Interactive) has announced it will launch a 'Black' online community in January 2008.

The community, and the initiative IAC is making into this specific ethnic niche, will be headed by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and headquartered in Charlotte, NC., the company press release detailed.

The press release is an interesting read and continues Ask's controversial branding campaigns. It cites 40 million AfroAmericans as its target audience and 20 million 'Blacks' from the rest of the world. No citation or mention of where these numbers came from and how and what they represent.

The press release states: IAC announced today that it will launch an online destination for the Black community featuring topical content, relevant services and a platform for community interaction. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. has been appointed CEO of the initiative, which is scheduled to launch in January 2008 and will be based in Charlotte, NC.

The yet-to-be-named site aims to bring the best the Web has to offer to the U.S. Black population, specifically catering to the community's distinct needs and interests. It will be part of IAC Programming, created in 2006 to grow branded online content properties that engage passionate communities.

"There exists enormous opportunity in today's online landscape to provide Blacks with an experience that engages their unique communities through a collective voice," said Mr. Taylor. "There are 40 million African Americans in the U.S., and we estimate an additional 20 million Blacks from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. IAC - with its superior technology, operational expertise and more than 60 brands - is poised to provide exceptional content and services for this growing and underserved population." Michael Jackson, President of IAC Programming, said, "Johnny has superb experience in talent acquisition and an exceptional track record in business strategy and execution. He is also a passionate advocate and leader for the Black community. With his intelligence, business acumen, and people skills, Johnny is the best person to launch this important Programming initiative - the first ethnically focused property in the IAC family of brands." For the past year, Mr. Taylor has served as IAC's SVP of Human Resources in New York. Previously he was SVP of Human Resources at LendingTree, an operating company of IAC. Before joining LendingTree, Mr. Taylor was President of McGuireWoods HR Strategies LLC, and served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Compass Group USA, Inc. Mr. Taylor also spent more than eight years in senior executive human resources and legal positions with Viacom subsidiaries Blockbuster Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:53 AM | Permalink

April 17, 2007

Ask CEO Explains "The Algorithm"

Ask.com’s CEO Jim Lanzone issued a statement explaining the new campaign that includes the intriguing ad copy: The Algorithm Constantly Finds Jesus.

“Ask.com has launched an advertising campaign focused on ‘The Algorithm.’ The goal is to incite a consumer conversation around the importance of a search engine’s algorithm and its integral role in making one engine different from another, Lanzone said.

‘The Algorithm’ is the single most important ingredient that determines the relevance of search results, yet its impact on the overall search experience is taken for granted by most consumers. At Ask.com, we feel that in order to drive consumer awareness and use of our engine, it is important to highlight the uniqueness of our algorithm, which takes a different approach to ranking than our competitors. The Ask.com algorithm’s relevance methodology goes beyond the popularity focus of Google, Yahoo and MSN’s, and is the only one to break the Web down into topic clusters and determine community-based relevance in real time.”

Posted by Frank Watson at 10:53 PM | Permalink

December 18, 2006

Searches Up, Dude! Ask.com Sponsors Surf Contest

Search and surfing will converge in Half Moon Bay, California in early 2007, when the Mavericks Surf Contest takes place. Known to surf pros and fans of the sport as the world's premiere big-wave surf event, this season's contest offers everyone the chance to surf Ask.com for all the details and get a variety of results from various Ask sources, including maps and directions online or via Ask.com Mobile search.

"Ask.com® is excited to be an integral part of the preeminent big-wave surfing event, and, as a leading search engine, to be the official go-to source for information for all things Mavericks," said Greg Ott, vice president of marketing. A quick search for Mavericks Surf Contest on Ask.com® will give fans quick access to webcasts and viewing locations, videos, bios on the surfers and the history of the event. In addition, with Ask.com® and Ask.com Mobile(tm), fans can find Mavericks images, news, maps, walking and driving directions, blogs and other information across the Web for fans everywhere. "We're excited to support this great surfing event, as well as to be a resource for all the Mavericks fans," remarked Ott.

On just 24 hours notice between January 1 and March 31, 2007, 24 legendary big-wave surfers will make the pilgrimage to the treacherous Mavericks surf break to compete for the famed title, and $75,000 in prizes to be distributed to the top surfers.

Surfers and fans alike can track the waves and stay informed on contest announcements at the official website maverickssurf.com.

Note: You would think that I got this info directly from Ask.com, since I receive a lot of press releases from the search engines, but no -- this one actually came from an PR company who has me on their list as an action sports journalist. So I just had to post since it was related to my two favorite things: search and outdoor sports.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 5:42 PM | Permalink

November 28, 2006

Ask.com Challenges You To Stop The Fat Naked Man From Dancing

Phil Bradley spotted an ad in the London Metro today, asking you to take the Ask.com Challenge and win prizes by searching. ChallengeAsk.com has more details.

There's a YouTube video with a fat, hairy man doing a striptease (also shown above, if you don't want to click over). The joke challenge is to stop Sam (the man in the video) from dancing by searching at Ask.com.

The real challenge is that by searching, you can win prizes if you get a congratulations message appearing in your search results.

Smart Answers for this contest include; ask challenge and stop sam.

Ask.com is not the first to give out prizes or money for searching, Microsoft has done it (and see here), as have others like Blingo and recently, Zotspot.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:36 AM | Permalink

November 3, 2006

Ask.com Creates Flash Demo To Explain Why Ask.com "Is Better"

Ask.com released a new flash demonstration that goes through all the features of the search engine. The purpose of the demo is to illustrate to standard web users, how Ask.com provides easy to use tools and quick "smart answers" to give you a "better" overall search experience. I think they did an excellent job with it, starting the demo off explaining that Ask.com is different, in that they help you "Find" and not just "Search." The demo is linked to from the Ask.com home page but if you are on a Mac you won't see it. You will have to go directly to the demo at http://searchtools.ask.com/.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:13 AM | Permalink

October 18, 2006

Ask.com Using Paid Search On Google As Promotion

I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Ask.com Advertises on Google.com To Promote Search Quality of Engine. A search on Raccoon brings up an AdWords ad that is marketing Ask.com's search results. Specifically, if you click on the ad, you are taken to a search for the same keyword, Raccoon at Ask.com. That search result sports a nice Ask Smart Answer. It is nice to see Ask.com using paid search in this fashion to promote their own search engine.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:24 AM | Permalink

August 16, 2006

The Inside Scoop from Search Bloggers

The major search engines all have unofficial bloggers talking about what's going on in their respective companies. At a recent SES session, search-blog stars Jeremy Zawodny, Gary Price, Matt Cutts and Niall Kennedy all revealed their modus operandi, and guest writer Sara Holoubek was there to capture their insights for today's SearchDay article, Expose: Search Engine Bloggers Tell All.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 7:44 PM | Permalink

July 6, 2006

Google Ombudsman? Search Ombudsman? Great Idea -- Bring Them On!

Back in 2004, Gary Stein suggested that Yahoo hire an ombudsman, a sort of impartial referee to handle disputes involving advertising programs. I thought it was a great idea. Today, Steve Bryant over at eWeek's Google Watch calls for Google to do the same thing. Again, great idea -- let's see the search engines all start hiring ombudsmen, in the way that many newspapers and others have done.

At a newspaper, the ombudsman is someone who the readers can appeal to if they feel a paper has been unfair or had a problem with coverage. The ombudsman investigates the complaint and reports back to the readers. As an insider, they have more access than an external investigator. But as the ombudsman, their responsibility is to represent the readers, not the organization.

Google's had a series of problems recently, as Bryant points out. Was Amazon accidentally knocked out on a search for its own domain name, or was it a glitch? Is Wikipedia Watch being deliberately downranked for a search on its own name, as founder Daniel Brandt feels, or is it another glitch?

An ombudsman is the sort of person who could investigate these things and report back. In fact, Google probably would need to employ a team of ombudsmen, given the many charges people point at it, often unfounded but still which need to be addressed.

Nor is Google the only one that should consider this. I don't agree with Bryant that Google is the closest thing we have to a Pope on the internet. But the idea of it being a paper of record is more true. But Google's not the only paper of record. Yahoo, MSN and Ask are all important papers, as well. I'd like to see them all establish ombudsmen.

At the very least, it will help take the pressure off the informal ombudsmen we already have -- Matt Cutts, Jeremy Zawodny and other search employees that often step up to do informal public relations and examinations of concerns. I don't want those bloggers to go away, but it would be nice to have an official person that searchers and publishers could feel are supposed to be looking into concerns.

Postscript: Google must temper its power or law makers will over at The Guardian has Jack Schofield talking about the idea of an ombudsman, as well.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:52 AM | Permalink

June 19, 2006

Ask.com Sponsors NBC's Treasure Hunters

I was flipping through the channels (actually, my wife was, I wanted to watch the NBA finals) and saw some people wearing Ask.com t-shirts on TV. It was a new show on NBC named Treasure Hunters.

The Ask blog says that Ask is the "Official Search Engine of Treasure Hunters." I did not watch the whole show, so I am not sure how beyond the t-shirts and commercials Ask promoted themselves in the show.

Postscript: Got word back from an Ask rep on what took place. Team members conducted searches at Ask for "us presidents" and another for "mount theodore roosevelt". They showed the Ask toolbar for viewers to follow the searches at home and to go to Ask.com to play along. Also, one team members yelled "we should have used Ask.com!"

Postscript #2: The Ask.com blog posted the encore presentation times with a link to watch the show online, while it is available. The show will be repeating Friday and Saturday at 8/7c on NBC. Also check out SearchEngineGuide's detailed review of the promotion.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:24 AM | Permalink

May 24, 2006

Search Engines Using Search Ads To Promote Themselves

In the past week or so, I have been reporting on the different ways search engines use search ads to promote their own search engine. I have spotted Ask.com bidding on Google for "pimped out search engine," which is part of their marketing speak of the TV commercials. I have also spotted Yahoo using Google AdSense to promote Yahoo Search products.

Search engines like MSN come up in Google AdWords for a search on search engine, MSN and Google come up in Yahoo Search for a query on search engine also. But at this time, none of the search engines are paying MSN or Ask.com for ads on their networks for the keyword phrase "search engine." It is also interesting to note that Google and MSN do not rank themselves in the number one position organically for the keyword phrase "search engine," only Ask.com and Yahoo do that.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:20 AM | Permalink

May 4, 2006

Ask.com France Launches French Blog

Ask.com has launched a French counter part to its English blog, at http://www.blog-ask.com/. Honestly, I cannot understand what the first blog post says, but it looks to me that they are just explaining what the blog will be used for, and they also mention a few other recent items about what is taking place at Ask.com. Visit, what I think is the first blog via top four search engines, written in French at http://www.blog-ask.com/.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:23 AM | Permalink

May 3, 2006

Ask.com Second TV Blitz Stars Chief Scientist Guru, Apostolos Gerasoulis

ClickZ reports that Ask.com will be launching its second set of "post-Jeeves campaigns" today (see 1st set here). In these TV campaigns, you may notice that one of the founders of Teoma, the technology being used to power Ask.com, Apostolos Gerasoulis will be the main star.

Reportedly, Apostolos will be searching for "pimped out cars" in Ask.com and find results that use words such as "tight" or "phat." This would demonstrate to the TV viewer that Ask.com "understands concepts" whereas other search engines may not. The ClickZ article describes a couple other TV commercials Ask.com's top scientist leads in; I can't wait to see them.

Postscript: Just spotted the TV commercials posted at http://about.ask.com/docs/about/televisionads.shtml check it out!

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:45 AM | Permalink

March 27, 2006

Ask TV Commercial Blitz Hits US Air Waves

I reported yesterday, that the Ask blog has posted two of their US based TV commercials for your viewing pleasure. The two commercials try to show how the current method of searching is out of date, and that you should use Ask.com to get a more sophisticated and efficient method of searching the Web. You can view the commercials yourself by clicking here.

I would love for you to share your thoughts; we have a forum thread under the title Ask's TV Commercials.

Postscript: Just noticed BBC UK coverage and opinion on the UK Ask.com ads. You can read the article here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:13 AM | Permalink

February 24, 2006

Ask Releases "Jeeves Leaves" Video Farewell

J.D. Ryznar was contracted by Ask.com to produce a farewell video for Jeeves's retirement. The video can be viewed here and you can read more about the making of the video at the Ask Blog.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our SEW Forum thread, Goodbye Jeeves.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:29 AM | Permalink

February 20, 2006

Farewell, Mr. Jeeves

Jeeves, the butler mascot for Ask Jeeves, is retiring, with the search engine slimming down to its long used but little promoted ask.com domain name. More about Jeeves' retirement, including highlights of his career, in today's SearchDay article, Jeeves Retires.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 5:16 AM | Permalink

February 12, 2006

Ask to Drop Jeeves by End of February

Reports via BBC News UK yesterday that Ask Jeeves will be dropping the butler by "the end of February." Of course we knew this was coming, and all attempts to save Jeeves must have failed. As noted in late December, Jeeves has been dropped from other Ask international properties already.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 3:08 PM | Permalink

January 9, 2006

What Was Ask Jeeves Up to During the Consumer Electronics Show?

In a very short, sweet, and thought provoking blog post late Friday, Ask Jeeves points out that while other search providers were in Las Vegas last week touting all sorts services and products that often didn't have a direct relationship with web search, they were back at the office working to make web their web search service more useful and relevant. At least that's how I interpret the post. If Diller, Berkman, Lanzone and others at AJ soon are making the point that web search and info retrieval are still far from perfect or ideal, it's a valid point. Web search s by no means a solved problem.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:50 PM | Permalink

December 27, 2005

Ask Jeeves Drops "Jeeves" Part In France

We know that Ask Jeeves has promised a rebranding to come, with the smart money being on shortening the name to Ask and showing Jeeves the butler the door. Now Barry over at Search Engine Roundtable spots a Cre8asite forum discussion remarking how in France, it's simply Ask France -- not Ask Jeeves France. Barry also finds the same in Japan and Spain.

The French site went up earlier this month, as Abondance reports in French here. Still no sign of it being Ask With ExpertRank technology, however. We talked about how that might be coming here: Ask Jeeves To Rebrand Tech As ExpertRank Inside? As for the butler, while he might be out of the name, he's still featured prominently on the home page.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:00 AM | Permalink

November 11, 2005

Ask Jeeves To Rebrand Tech As ExpertRank Inside?

Gary Price -- awesome sleuth that is he -- was doing some searching of the US Patent Office & Trademark Office database yesterday and noticed that Ask Jeeves filed for a trademark, a service mark to be accurate, for the term "ExpertRank" about a week ago. Perhaps the sign of a new branding campaign to come?

Ask Jeeves won't comment on what this means, but Gary reminded me that Teoma means "expert" in Gaelic. Teoma is the company Ask Jeeves bought in 2001 and the name of the search technology Ask Jeeves uses for its search results. I even joked earlier about how in the UK, Ask Jeeves has been branding its service as having "new Teoma technology."

So how about some speculation? Many are familiar with the "Intel Inside" branding campaign that Intel has run for years. You never see an Intel chip when you're using a computer, but the company wants you to have the notion that it's a good thing so you'll seek out Intel machines.

The search wars have their own sort of Intel Inside branding that's heating up. Google's long trotted out PageRank as its form of under-the-hood tech that should wow consumers. A few months ago, MSN rolled out its Neural Net technology as both a way to improve its results and to help counter the notion of Google having all the secret search sauce.

Teoma's long been the secret sauce for Ask, and ExpertRank sounds like a rebranding of that (rather than some new tech) to help Ask Jeeves compete with PageRank Inside and Neural Net Inside.

Where's Yahoo in all of this? It did roll out a Web Rank idea almost two years ago, but that never caught on or was seriously promoted by the company. But if Yahoo's going to face PageRank Inside, Neural Net Inside and ExpertRank Inside, it's almost a foregone conclusion it will look for something with a little more oomph than just saying it's Yahoo Search Technology Inside, as they did launching when launching Yahoo's own technology in early 2004.

Hmm -- maybe My Rank? Since's Yahoo's big on the entire My Web concept, I can see it now: "New Yahoo Search with My Web And My Rank Technology."

Postscript from Gary: Let's not forget that Google trademarked/service marked the term "TrustRank" earlier this year. Also, keeping with the "rank" theme, Topix.net registered the service mark "NewsRank" last year. They also have the service mark "National Network for Local News" registered with the USPTO.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:34 AM | Permalink

October 5, 2005

New Save Jeeves Blog & Campaign

Barry at Search Engine Roundtable points to the new Save Jeeves blog, started by a former Ask Jeeves employee who wants the butler mascot to stay. Whichever way it goes, one thing is for certain. Controversy over whether the butler should go will only help raise awareness of Ask.com. Look for:

  • MSN to consider whether the butterfly should be stuffed into a collection jar.  
  • Yahoo to debate whether it should love the exclamation mark from Yahoo! (yes, please. I mean yes, please!)  
  • Google to announce a competition for a better logo (someone blogged about it needing one recently, can't find the link, sorry. But I doubt they were the first to say publicly the Google logo, well, could be a lot better).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:18 AM | Permalink

September 23, 2005

Recapping Official Search Engine Blogs

Search Engine Blogs as Public Relations Tools from Loren Baker over at Search Engine Journal is a nice overview of how the various major search engines are turning more and more to blogs as a communication tool, with continuing unofficial help from employee blogs such as those from Yahoo's Jeremy Zawodny and Google's Matt Cutts (hey, Google, get his blog listed in your Blogs By Googlers section on the Google Blog already!).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:10 AM | Permalink

September 21, 2005

Diller Says Ask Jeeves Will Rebrand as Ask.com

Thanks to SearchViews and SEOBook for pointing us to The Street.com article: Diller Sacks the Butler. It reports on comments made today by IAC/InterActive CEO, Barry Dillerm about the future of one of his newest employees, Mr. Jeeves. According to Diller, Mr. Jeeves will be out of a job as the company mascot when Ask Jeeves rebrands itself as Ask.com. That's right, the new name of Ask Jeeves will be Ask.com. Diller did not provide a specific date as to when Mr. Jeeves will be unemployed.

We've been awaiting word of a new name since Diller made comments about a possible rebranding in May of this year.

I think a new name can only be good news for the search engine. Why? Sure, people know the name Ask Jeeves but as I said on the Searchcast today, everytime I bring up the name Ask Jeeves in a search training session, people look at my like I'm wasting their time by mentioning it. They associate the name Ask Jeeves and the mascot with what it once was, a bad search engine. They have no idea that in the past four years the product has become an increasingly valuable search and research tool. Hopefully, new branding and marketing will help convince the masses to take another look.

Diller also told attendees at an investment conference today that he wants to integrate Ask into other IAC/InterActive properties like Ticketmaster and Match.com. Last week I blogged about a bit of IAC synergy with the new Ask Gift Finder that uses a database from Gifts.com, another IAC property. Finally, Diller told the audience to look for Ask.com to expand into the China search space next year.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:56 PM | Permalink

September 20, 2005

Ask Jeeves Radio Ads Don't Win Over Tara

Why I Think the Internet Bubble is Back, Part I from Tara over at ResearchBuzz covers her hearing Ask Jeeves radio commercials -- and coming away unimpressed.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:45 AM | Permalink

February 24, 2005

Ask Jeeves & New TV Ads

As noted earlier, Ask Jeeves has embarked on a television campaign to promote its service. Must-See Jeeves from the Ask Jeeves Blog lets you see the ads that debuted last week. See also Ask Jeeves Searches For Users with Ad Effort from ClickZ for some more details.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBack

February 14, 2005

Mr. Jeeves Takes to the Airwaves

DMNews reports that Ask Jeeves is ready to begin a television advertising campaign consisting of six commercials.

In each commercial, someone is seeking information from an expert, but on a topic that person is not an authority on and, therefore, can't answer. The spots conclude with the suggestion to search Ask Jeeves, as it is a more authoritative source than the so-called experts.

As I explained last week, Jeeves is well-known brand name. However, it's a name that's often associated with the poor search service that was available in 1998 or 1999 and NOT the product that's available today. Let's see if these telelvision ads help.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBack

February 2, 2005

The Butler Now Has a Weblog

Ask Jeeves has launched a weblog. The AJ Weblog joins blogs from Yahoo, Google, and MANY other search providers. The first post shares some info about and photos of the new AJ offices in Oakland, CA. You'll also find links to the Bloglines popular feeds list as well as a weblog search button. A click on the Ask Jeeves weblog button sends the query to the Bloglines database. You'll find the Ask Jeeves feed here.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:19 PM | Permalink | TrackBack

January 31, 2005

The OC Arrested By Ask Jeeves, Too

Earlier, I posted how A9 got a mention on The OC. Ask Jeeves got an OC-related plug on TV this week, as well.

OK, it wasn't the hip kids of The OC talking about Ask Jeeves but instead the crazy family of Arrested Development -- also set in Orange County's Newport Beach, that mentioned Ask Jeeves. To be specific, it was family lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn (actor Henry Winkler), even better known to many people as The Fonz from Happy Days.

Paid product placement? Nope. Instead, Ask Jeeves senior vice president Jim Lanzone emailed me to say a good college friend of his is the agent of the creator of Arrested Development. He uses Ask Jeeves, so that's apparently worked its way higher. No money was spent, and the mention was a surprise to Ask Jeeves.

"We didn't know about it in advance. We sent them some T-shirts to say thanks," Lanzone said.

All in all, a good opportunity to try out new Google Video (aka Google TV) service, as someone over at InsideGoogle did when commenting there on the A9 mention. Here's a rundown. First, the Ask Jeeves mention:

It's a private Stock, so you cannot just buy up the shares unless someone is willing to sell. Are you sure? That's what they said on Ask Jeeves. All right, who's the majority shareholder now?

The A9 reference is here:

Why, why happened? Did he call you? No, but I a9.Com'd him last night, and according to the O.C. Weekly, he's pretty much everything that's wrong with Western civilization, all wrapped up in one Guy..

For the record, A9 told News.com that it didn't pay for the mention:

"We didn't even know it was going to air," A9 Chief Udi Manber said. But "it shows people like...A9...and that they are telling their friends and family."

Meanwhile, how common is "googled?" Only three mentions: Conan O'Brien, Carson Daly and PBS. But extend it out to Google, and there are nearly 100 mentions of the company. Most are news realted, but looks like Regis is in the "did you Google that" camp.

Yahoo has many more mentions, but many of those see ads for the SBC Yahoo access service. Ironically, Yahoo is the most aggressive of all the services in terms of gaining product placement mentions. None of the above services has ever claimed to pay for these. Yahoo just struck a deal to get it into reality shows of The Apprentice and The Contender.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:09 AM | Permalink | TrackBack