Could Ask.com's Binoculars Be Used to Rank Pages?
I spotted an interesting post over at Search Engine Watch that discusses a recent Patent filed by Ask.com that discusses possible uses for their much hyped "binoculars" feature.
Check out the post for a full rundown on the patent, but what I find most interesting is that some people are speculating that a searcher's interaction with the binoculars could be used to rank sites.
If that ever does happen, I wonder how fast SEOs would build binocular bots to hover and click on their listings.
And if you are suffering from insomnia, please feel free to review the actual Ask.com patent, courtesy of the US Patent Office.
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Comments
Hi James,
It's not really speculation about user interaction with the preview. That's actually part of the patent.
Whether or not they are using that information though, is another matter...
I suspect you might be right about the binocular bots. :)
Cheers.
Posted by: Bill | May 16, 2006 04:04 PM
Thanks for the comment Bill. I wonder if they really are using the info.
Now if you don't mind, I think I am going to go patent the term BinoculBots...
Posted by: James Omdahl | May 16, 2006 04:06 PM
They have some experience with the Direct Hit click through information, so it wouldn't bee too much of a surprise.
Binoculbots - sounds like a good Saturday Morning Cartoon series.
Posted by: Bill | May 16, 2006 05:59 PM