Ask Jeeves introduced “Famous People Search” on Ask.com as a continuation of the company’s mission to provide its users with direct access to frequently searched information that goes beyond the ten blue links approach to delivery. According to Ask.com, famous people are one of the most frequently searched for topics on the Web and Ask.com’s new capability includes bios, pictures, news, products and links to official Web sites all contained in a direct answer format.
Ask Jeeves’ version of Famous People Search is an expansion of the company’s “Smart Search” tools. Smart Search enables users to conduct more effective searches by helping narrow, broaden or more directly answer user queries. Designed to respond to the varying needs of searchers, Ask Jeeves blends quality results with intuitive tools that enhance the search experience.
Here are some basic examples:
The results seem to be shown only for names, and not search terms with the famous people’s names. For example, if you search for “Colin Powell lied to UN” or say, “Britney Spears mp3“, or even “John Kerry War Hero“.
Interestingly enough, when searching for “George Bush” Ask.com delivers results for George W. Bush, George HW Bush, and George P. Bush. Not bad for those politcal dynasties that follow the British Monarchial naming system.
Looking into another family that names all of their kids George, the Forman family, a search for “George Foreman” only resulted in the ex-heavy weight champ and not much on his five boys; George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, George VI.
