I find myself using Ask.com more and more these days. I think it’s by far the best designed search site. It’s clean, uncluttered and modern. Earlier this year I started using Ask Maps instead of MapQuest. I tried Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s mapping products and none worked at well as Ask Maps for me.
I haven’t used Microsoft’s Live Search very much because I don’t like how the search results are laid out. But it feels as fast as Google. Both Live and Google seem a little faster than Ask, but not enough that it matters to me.
I tried searching for “Nordquist” on each site. Asks lists my blog as the 4th result. Google lists it as the 6th result. Live lists it as the 1st result.
I don’t know that it matters very much anymore which search engine I use. I’m going to try using a different one for a week for all my searches. Currently, my mind defaults to Google. But I’m going to try living with Ask and then Live for a week and see if I notice any difference.
I didn’t include Yahoo in the mix because their home page is cluttered with news. Search is more an after thought which is probably how they designed it.
But if I’ve learned anything today it’s the Google’s dominance in search isn’t the same as Microsoft’s dominance in operating systems. It’s difficult to switch from Windows to Linux or Apple, not to mention costly. It would take me several days to migrate my work onto another operating system.
But how much work is it to switch from Google to Ask or Live or some new kid on the block like Mahalo? It’s just a click away. No pain, no cost.
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