Interesting read – you should check it out.
Here is the cliff notes version:
“Both of the new systems are designed to spare users the extra steps needed in the past to view different types of content related to the same search term. But Google combines these different types of content into one list. Ask puts them on one page in separate sections, which I find to be the superior approach, because each type of result is displayed more effectively; it’s easier to see at a glance what you have.”
[…] Link to Article google Mossberg: Ask.com Takes Lead In Designing Display Of Search Results » […]
Mossberg is spot on, as usual.
I just did a few quick searches on terms in and around my industry (college admissions) and, where there’s video or a podcast or some such, sure is nice to see that stuff broken out into different categories.
It will be interesting to see if the needle moves relative to people’s use of Ask v Google v Yahoo v MSN.