A few days ago, a story broke about the plans of Ask.com executives to go into a different direction, namely targeting their female audience. Now it seems that Ask.com will not necessarily go after women, but they will try to become a very niche player. Here is an interview with Ask.com VP that sheds some lights on Ask.com’s new strategy.

Ask.com is a very cool engine, and I certainly understand the disappointment of its executives in failing to challenge Google despite adding some innovative features. The fact of the matter is that many have tried and failed to beat Google in its own game. At some point, you get to the point where the old strategy of going head on against the leader won’t work. That strategy has certainly failed for Ask.com, and with only single digits of market share, they can only hope to protect their position by situating themselves as a niche player in the search industry. I don’t know whether the customized search will be the next step for Ask.com, but they will have nothing to lose. It will all come down on how they execute.