Ask Jeeves Launches Smart Search

Jeeves now helps you shop

[werty]

press release [prnewswire.com]

Ask Jeeves' Smart Search for Products is the result of a comprehensive study of online and offline shopping needs and behaviors commissioned by the Ask Jeeves product team. The study determined that consumers have different information needs at different points of the shopping cycle, including reading reviews, evaluating features, identifying similar items, comparing prices, and finding stores when they've decided to make a purchase. Interestingly, research-based information, such as reviews and features, was found to be more important to searchers than price comparisons, which are commonly the default product search result offered by other search sites.

It is powered by pricegrabber.com

[Chndru]

If you are searching for a product X, and choose any of the options in the pull-down menu,
reading reviews, ---> searches for X + reviews
evaluating features,---> searches for X + features
identifying similar items, ---> related searches
comparing prices, ---> searches for X + compare prices
finding stores ---> searches for X + buy

Earth shattering indeed :)

[martinibuster]

Ask Jeeves have the best PR spinners west of Madison Avenue.

This is something they haul out of the closet every year for the holidays like a plastic christmas tree.

See this report [bizjournals.com] from last year.

[jimbeetle]

Since they sold the enterprise business and would appear to have some cash to play with I've been anticipating some sort of big announcement from ask for a few months, assumed in time for holiday shopping season.

This ain't it.

[werty]

Yeah it is pretty weak. I use pricegrabber all the time and it seems like the Jeeves version is not as in depth. For digital camera it let me choose 2 makes, and it took like 5 clicks to get to that point.