Searchers in France, Italy, and the Netherlands can choose to try beta versions of the Ask.com search engine in those countries.
Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia and Ask.com Nederland debuted officially today alongside existing Ask sites in the UK, Spain, and Germany. The new sites present a phase of growth for IAC’s search company beyond the United States.
Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask.com commented on the news via a statement, ”The unique search experience at Ask.com has resulted in the largest U.S. percentage growth among the major search engines for 2005, and we look forward to bringing that experience to more European users.”
It’s all about branding, and Ask believes it can develop its brand in Europe. One positive step Ask has taken is with its Maps product. Ask Maps has something for European cities that MSN and Google do not: street maps.
Gaining a foothold in Europe could pay off long-term for Ask. European users are thought to be more brand loyal than their American counterparts. The street mapping service may demonstrate to those users that Ask values their patronage more than the competition does.
The company’s Executive Vice President and General Managerfor Ask.com Europe, Adrian Cox, echoed that sentiment with comments he provided:
We expect that the user adoption of our newly-launched interface, search tools and technologies, coupled with the Ask.com features that our users have come to love, will help Ask.com become a driving force in search across Europe.”
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
