Ask.com

They were big like 10 years ago, back before “Google” was a verb.

I’ve never really used them before, but may be willing now. Recently, I been searching the Web, not with terms, but with questions. I’ve needed answers to ailments, how to remove three discs stuck in the Wii console (don’t ask), quick fixes for recipes, even grammar questions. Sometimes Google is helpful with my questions. Sometimes not. Ask.com may be just what I’ve needed.

The 15-year-old search engine has undergone a makeover of sorts, now offering a social search and more personalized browsing.

Here’s how it works.

Simply type in your query and Ask.com will direct the question to experts – rather than leaving the answers up to the whole community – and by identifying the users’ interests through their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.

This new personalized browsing feature – which is available with an Ask.com invite or to Ask’s iPhone app users – helps the site generate its own profile for a user. Give a few pieces of information, along with some Facebook and LinkedIn details, and poof – your Ask.com profile is built. Based on your profile, Ask.com is betting that it’ll know what types of questions you’ll want answered – and, in doing so, will route those questions to someone whose profile shows experience or knowledge related to your query. Does that make them an expert? Probably not.

And here’s where the social aspect comes in.

The personal profile that is created will help Ask.com identify users with similar interests, and users will be able to follow other users.

It does sound like a lot of work just to get a question answered. But, if the Q&A space is something that floats your boat – like it does for me – then the new relaunch of Ask.com is probably worth your while.

No advertising, just information. That’s what I like.

So I gave Cuil the same test I give every search engine – and it failed miserably.

1. A search for Gregory Silvano didn’t pull up anything special.  And if the first page doesn’t include my LinkedIn account, then sorry – it’s not a very good search engine.
2. A search for Stature Software returned nothing worthwhile.  We’re not a hugely important site on the web, and that’s exactly the point.  Most sites aren’t hugely important on the web and that’s why I need the search engine.  If you search for Stature Software on Yahoo, Google, or MSN you’ll get our web site at least.
3. It was slow.  Too slow.

I’m no Google lover by any stretch, but Google wins this fight.