Ask Jeeves and AltaVista Partner: Natural Language Question-Answering Capability Enhances Leading Search Service

Business Wire, Oct 13, 1998

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1998--

Ask Jeeves Question-Answering Service to

Complement Keyword and Directory Searches

Ask Jeeves, the leading provider of natural-language, question-answering, Web-navigation products and services, today announced that it has licensed its technology to Compaq Computer's search engine, AltaVista.

Visitors to AltaVista's powerful search site now benefit from a robust search engine enhanced with the Ask Jeeves Question Processing Engine and their proprietary knowledgebase that contains more than six million answers to the Internet's most commonly asked questions. AltaVista users of all levels will now be able to ask questions in plain English, and quickly and easily find their answers online.

Rod Schrock, Senior VP for Compaq's Consumer Products Group, said, "AltaVista has always been the service that sets new standards for Web searching. This agreement is part of our commitment to making the Internet accessible to everyone by implementing cutting-edge technologies in search, interface design and information services. We believe that Ask Jeeves' ability to answer users' questions is a perfect addition to AltaVista's popular and powerful search service."

"Ask Jeeves was founded with the certainty that most people will inevitably choose natural-language querying as their preferred means of finding information," said Robert Wrubel, Ask Jeeves president. "We have been perfecting the natural language technology, knowledgebase, semantic indexing tools, and Web links, for years and it is gratifying to see this technology and database adopted by such a popular and respected search service as AltaVista."

"When I have a question, I first turn to Ask Jeeves. Not only do I often get precisely the information I sought, but I get it quickly. It saves me time." Said Don Norman, cognitive scientist and principal of the Nielson Norman Group, experts in human-centered products.

The new service, called "Ask AltaVista," allows users to ask questions in plain English and receive a short list of intelligently matched, confirmation questions as well as AltaVista's comprehensive, keyword-search results. Each confirmation question links to the site or page that best answers that specific question. This enables users to quickly find what they are looking for, without having to scroll or click through multiple pages. For example, if a user asks "What is my Honda worth?" the confirmation questions might be, "How much is my used car worth?," "How much does a new car from Honda cost?," or "How much does a new truck/SUV/van from Honda cost?" If the user selects the first confirmation question, he or she will be shown the Honda page of a site that provides used car prices.

Ask Jeeves Technology

Ask Jeeves is able to understand questions by using an advanced natural-language parsing process. The proprietary software allows Ask Jeeves to ascertain the different parts of each question, determine how each word within the question is being used and understand the question's meaning. Ask Jeeves' parsing technology is linked to a proprietary knowledgebase of question-templates and answer-links. This knowledgebase has been constructed over a period of years by a staff of research editors who search the Web for answers to common and not-so-common questions. Additionally, Ask Jeeves' editors continuously watch the stream of incoming questions in order to identify and create question-and-answer templates for the queries that occur most frequently. Matching questions are presented in a short list, so users can select the closest match and then be taken directly to the relevant Web site -- no scrolling, searching or keyword matching.

Ask Jeeves' easy-to-manage and scalable technology can be customized for use in nearly any kind of e-commerce, information or corporate site. The technology can function as an automated customer service or technical support agent that answers customer questions and reduces the number of costly support calls; an online sales agent that allows users to quickly find products online, or simply as a superior method of site navigation. Narrowing the context of the question, as within a single site, makes the Ask Jeeves technology even more accurate. As a bonus, the technology provides site managers with a daily list of questions that are not being answered satisfactorily by its customers, providing a useful tool for improving customer support and for product or marketing research.

About AltaVista Search

Compaq's fast and powerful AltaVista Search Service is the premier resource for locating information the Internet. A forerunner in Web search technology, AltaVista has set new standards, from indexing the entire Internet to providing the Web's first instant language translation capabilities. With an extensive line-up of innovative content and services, AltaVista is now regarded as one of the top, destination sites on the Web. For more information visit AltaVista's flagship site, located at www.altavista.com.