Can Jeeves find the right answers?

Apr 23 2009 by Herb Kim, The Journal

MORE than 70% of web searches in the UK are run through Google. Surely there’s nothing a posh valet in a Savile Row suit can do to change that, is there?

Last Monday, search engine Ask.com brought its mascot, the fictional valet from PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster books, out of retirement in a bid to win back some market share from Google. It also announced that it will be changing its name back to Ask Jeeves.

The well-dressed valet was originally sent into early retirement by American-owned Ask in 2006, saying that consumers no longer understood his relevance.

Now he’s back (in the UK, anyway) with a new 3D look from Oscar-winning special effects experts Framestore and a jazzy suit and tie from Savile Row tailors Gieves and Hawkes.

He sure looks the part. But will that help him succeed where all others have failed in managing to wrestle some users from Google?

I thought it was a poor decision to get shot of Jeeves in the first place, and it makes sense to bring him back. In the search market there aren’t many areas in which you can compete. The quality and speed of your search results. How easy your interface is to use. And your brand. That’s about it.

Back in the late-90s, when the site launched, the character of Jeeves helped the search engine stand out from its competitors. Its brand values were different: Ask Jeeves told consumers it was the place to go when you needed answers to a proper question (eg. ‘Where can I find a plumber in Newcastle?’), and it delivered on that promise.

This week’s re-launch gets Ask Jeeves closer to finding a worthwhile position in the market. However, despite talking up how Jeeves is now better than ever at providing real answers to questions, the actual search experience and results are too similar to those provided by Google.

At the moment, Google is the default search engine for millions worldwide. Ask – and other search engines – can’t compete by offering exactly the same core benefits and nothing else.

They need to think what else they can offer users to make them stand out, and how they can get people to their search engine in the first place. And then they need to ensure users’ experiences match what their brand promises.

Ask is doing the right thing by considering how it can best position itself in the market. But at the moment, Jeeves hasn’t got his answer quite right.

Herb Kim is chief executive of Codeworks, the North East's centre for digital innovation