Ask, “ET” Partner

You may or may not be able to monitor the pulse of a nation through search terms, but in this case, that’s something of a non-issue; a partnership between Ask and “Entertainment Tonight” will only focus on celebrity names.

Ask, “ET” Partner

Are queries for “Paris Hilton” more popular than those for “Britney Spears”?  As the television show lists the top three celebrity searches at Ask, viewers may find out.  Admittedly, life and death do not hang in the balance, and I can happily – even proudly – say that I’ve never sat through an episode of “Entertainment Tonight.”  Still, the move will get Ask some more exposure.

Also, the exposure will be relevant, and for Jim Lanzone, Ask’s CEO, that’s key.  Andrew Hampp describes an instance in which “Larry David was seen carrying an Ask.com shopping bag in an episode of HBO’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ last season, despite the fact that Ask doesn’t have any stores.”  Lanzone’s response, according to Hampp, was “WTF.”

Lanzone could be saying that acronym again once he sees the nation’s obsession with Hilton and Spears, but at least his search engine may be getting more traffic while this occurs.  Ask needs it – despite positive reviews from the likes of Walter Mossberg, the site is still far behind Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.