Ask.com datacenter coming to Washington State

[tedster]

Internet search engine Ask.com plans to open a data center in this central Washington city, the latest high-tech company lured east of the Cascades by cheap hydropower.

"Moses Lake is an ideal location due to its cooperative business environment, access to low cost, renewable power and superior network connectivity," Chuck Geiger, chief technology officer of Ask.com, said in a statement Wednesday. "With these inherent benefits, Eastern Washington is the right choice for Ask.com as we expand our computing infrastructure to support our growth and expanded search services."

Forbes Article [forbes.com]

[tedster]

I'm glad to see this news. I've long thought that Ask could be more of a competitor in search. But they need more than market visibility, they also need infrastructure to support growth. This area of infrastructure savvy has been a key growth factor for Google, and if Ask works this intelligently, it could be the step I've been waiting for.

[ridgway]

i attended Central Washington University, a couple of hours down the freeway from "Moses Hole". This is pretty astonishing, unless Moses Lake has changed significantly over the years.

My God, wait until the new employees moving in get a taste of the wind in the winter, the "blustery" spring days, and a landscape that makes West Texas look lush.

[TheGrid]

I had gone to a public utility company there for some Peoplesoft work about 4 yrs back.

When I landed at the Moses Lake Airport there was not a single person on the airport except for 4 passengers and 2 pilots. Not a single taxi outside and it was just 7 PM on Sunday. Had to ask the pilots to drop me to my motel.

To the best of my knowledge, the town population is 1000 people.

Should have bought 10-20 acres there..