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Ask.com Addresses Privacy Worries

No. 5 search engine says it will erase info within hours

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 11, 2007 11:34 AM CST

(Newser) – Aiming to establish itself as an innovator, Ask.com is allowing users to have their search requests deleted within hours, the AP reports. The fifth-most-popular search engine with just 3% market share, Ask.com is taking a huge leap toward being the web’s least intrusive search option. "We definitely want to stand out from the other guys," says a senior VP.

Google, which boasts 55% market share, saves personal info for 18 months, and Yahoo (19%), Microsoft (14%), and AOL (4%) store data for over a year. AskEraser, which launches today, flies in the face of rivals’ claims that they need to hold on to requests to better know their and improve targeting of ads.

Japanese university computer students from schools in Tokyo pose for pictures as they tour around Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in this April 19, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
Japanese university computer students from schools in Tokyo pose for pictures as they tour around Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in this April 19, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma,...   (Associated Press)
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone, center, without glasses, poses with employees in the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007.Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search technology, Ask.com will begin showing results sorted within three panels spread across the computer screen instead of piling...
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone, center, without glasses, poses with employees in the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007.Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search technology,...   (Associated Press)
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone, center in black glasses, poses with employees on the roof of the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007. Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search technology, Ask.com will begin showing results sorted within three panels spread across the computer...
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone, center in black glasses, poses with employees on the roof of the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007. Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search...   (Associated Press)
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone poses for a portrait in the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007. Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search technology, Ask.com will begin showing results sorted within three panels spread across the computer screen instead of piling all the...
Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone poses for a portrait in the company's offices in Oakland, Calif., Friday, June 1, 2007. Hoping to bring a new dimension to Internet search technology, Ask.com will begin showing...   (Associated Press)
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COMMENTS
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Minor player's move puts pressure on major engines
Wall Street Journal

Privacy groups cheer the new option
Los Angeles Times

"It is nice knowing that if I ever need to perform a secure search, that option is available"
PC World

Germany may keep employers' hands off hirees' web info
Bloomberg

An Austrian university lays into Google's potential information monopolies
Age (Aust.)

 
Yahoo • Google • Microsoft • online privacy • search engine • Ask.com • AskEraser

 
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