Ask.com cuts 40 jobs in reorganization
As expected, Ask.com is cutting 40 jobs--8 percent of its work force--as part of a restructuring to refocus the search company toward providing answers to its core audience of women searching on entertainment, health, and reference topics, the company said on Tuesday.
(Credit:
Ask.com)
Meanwhile, the company said it will be hiring some new employees to help with the transition, as well as add more community-generated responses and look for partners. Teoma will remain part of the search technology, the company said.
The reorganization, Safka's first move since assuming the CEO spot from Jim Lanzone in January, is aimed at helping Ask.com grow its market share from the current 5 percent. Competing head-on with the Google and the others hasn't narrowed the gap, so the idea is to focus on a core demographic and answers to questions, specifically.
Given that Yahoo laid off more than 1,000 workers last month, Google is suddenly looking at some surprising slow growth in paid search ad numbers, and Microsoft is looking to buy Yahoo to better compete in search and ads, it's not such a surprise that the No. 4 search engine would be hitting snags of its own.
Although, Ask.com has undergone more cosmetic surgery than most, changing its name from Ask Jeeves, dropping the butler logo, redesigning the site numerous times and shaking up management along the way.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs.
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
