So much for Ask.com being a threat to the top 3 engines. IAC just fired a bunch of their people, and it seems Ask will go back to its Jeeves day when it was all about questions and answers instead of a search engine. Ask.com had an OK technology behind it and had made numerous moves to cut into its bigger competitor’s shares, but it wasn’t any close to being a Google or Yahoo! killer. I wonder if this actually affects the Yahoo!, Microsoft deal as the industry is now different with only 3 major players in it rather than four. On a side note, I think Ask! will be a great destination for all women around the world.