Ask.com, the perennial 3rd runner up in the search wars, has launched a completely new search interface today.
Called Ask3D, the results page is split into three main panels. The primary (center) panel lists traditional search results. The left panel provides contextual links, based upon the type of search you've done. For example, a search for singer Amy Winehouse offers links to narrow your search to Amy Winehouse Lyrics on the left panel, while a search for Balkans lets you narrow your search to Balkans countries, Balkans Map and Balkans History; expand your search to the Triple Alliance or Triple Entente; or find related names such as Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the Austrian leader, not the indie band). The right panel provides contextual links to images, news images, wikipedia entries, music clips (from iLike) and more.
In the new UI, Ask also moves the search box from the traditional center position to the top of the left panel. This has a few benefits: first, you get more results above the fold, as you don't have a search box taking up a third of the space; more importantly, this enables them to use the left panel for the navigational links described above.
Ask 3D also provides strong autocomplete capabilities, so when you type in a search term, you get relevant potential searches each time. These autocomplete entries provide context, not simply a list of keywords. For example, when I type "Franz Ferdin", I see options for Franz Ferdinand the band, Franz Ferdinand lyrics, Franz Ferdinand assassination and more.
Multi-paneled SERPs are not new. A9 and others have offered these for a while. But Ask 3D really embraces the idea of a new UI, providing unique functionality by type of content. You can roll over images to see them enlarged or listen to a music clip directly on the results page. While Google, Yahoo, Technorati and others have released recent changes, Ask's effort is clearly the most revolutionary. Of course, as John Battelle points out, it's easier to take risks when you're #4 than when you're the leader.
With 5% of the search market, Ask has a long climb ahead of it. While it will take more than a new UI to move up in the pack, the new interface may make Ask more suited for specific types of searches, such as entertainment. Time will tell if this new interface helps Ask make more inroads.
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