Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Ask Jeeves Introduces Famous People Search

By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
April 12, 2004
Ask Jeeves has expanded its Smart Search feature, adding "direct answers" with biographical information about famous people.

Direct answers for famous people appear in a box at the top of a search result page, with a picture, short biography and additional links for more information. These links vary depending on what the person is famous for. For example, results for David Bowie include links for pictures, news, products, filmography and discography.

Pictures, news and product links are provided by Ask Jeeves in partners Picsearch, Moreover and Pricegrabber. Discographies come from AllMusic.com, and filmographies are provided by the Internet Movie Database. For some famous people, a link to an official web site will be offered.

While famous people search is useful for people of unquestionable fame, the service is inconsistent, providing information for some celebrities but not for others of seemingly similar stature. For example, you'll get results for Colin Powell but not Condoleza Rice. Similarly, you will see a direct answer for Bugs Bunny but not for Daffy Duck.

Some other examples:

William Shakespeare
Golda Meir
David Beckham
Amelia Earhart
George Boole

fr.: http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3338781

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