Cool new features included in Ask Mobile GPS were reviewed in a Search Daily News article earlier this summer. The system is currently available only to US mobile Internet users. However, NMA magazine reports this week that Ask plans to make their mobile search service available in the UK by Christmas 2007.
Ask is hoping that the introduction of Ask Mobile in the UK might help boost its popularity. The company has launched a television ad campaign, a billboard campaign and even an ad campaign in the London Underground in an attempt to win UK market share.
Myles Runham, general manager for Europe at Ask.com, said that Ask Mobile provides a much more direct alternative to finding results than traditional browser-based search by taking the simplest approach rather than making users navigate through a number of search results. He said, “It’s extremely successful in the US, so we’re hopeful it can have the same impact over here.”
Ask Mobile currently includes Web search, images, business listings, maps, weather, bloglines, area codes, currency conversion, horoscopes and time zones in the USA. The Web Search page provides recent searches and example search terms in the form of clickable links below the search box. Unfortunately, Ask Mobile does not incorporate any of the design genius of the new Ask Search, and the mobile search results seem to bring up a mix of regular Internet sites and mobile-friendly sites.
Mobile Internet users can search on Ask Mobile by visiting:
