San Francisco (CA) - Ask.com's latest service will allow users to keep their search data from being saved for several months, giving it an advantage over Google and other search portals.
With Ask.com's "AskEraser" feature, users will be able to request that their search data be purged within hours of initiating the search. That's significantly different than other sites like Google, which may keep user search histories in their data banks for months.
"We definitely want to stand out from the other guys. This level of control is unprecedented and unmatched," said Ask.com senior VP Doug Leeds in an Associated Press interview.
Fighting to bring itself out of obscurity, Ask.com found a voice for itself with the digital privacy issue. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have all come under scrutiny for their poor privacy protection, causing Ask to step forward and offer an alternative.
Google keeps search data from all users for 18 months after the date of origin, while Yahoo and AOL keep the data for 13 months.
Ask.com carried 3% of the search engine market share in October, according to Nielsen Online.
