Earnings up 70% from last year but of course the stock market reacted badly after the release. Thats the market for you

http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_ge.jsp?news_id=dji-00142020041027&feed=dji&date=20041027

The reason ASKJ went down after their earnings release is that they lowered guidance, which means their growth is down. Also, it became clear in their earnings call that the ISH piece is losing marketshare faster than ASK.com gains it. Lastly, it became clear to investors that ASKJ has all its monetization levers turned to 'Max', and so there's no more short-term squeezes they can get out of their traffic.

IMO, the party's over at ASKJ.

The reason ASKJ went down after their earnings release is that they lowered guidance,

This is directly from the 2nd quarter press release -

For the third quarter, Ask Jeeves anticipates revenues of $74 million and pro forma income of approximately $16.5 million, or $0.24 per share.

Ask Jeeves anticipates revenues of approximately $260 million and pro forma income of approximately $1.03 per share for 2004.


This is directly from the 3rd quarter press release -

Pro forma income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $17.6 million, or $0.25 per share.

For the full year, Ask Jeeves anticipates revenues of approximately $261 million and pro forma income of approximately $1.04 per share for 2004.

Both press releases are here

http://sp.ask.com/docs/about/pr.html

I like Ask Jeeves but as far as finacials go the ROI is not that solid. But we are working to see if we can improve that through thorough AB testing and ROI analysis.

ASK is not dead or even floundering. The analysts in the conference call seemed displeased with the vague answers from the presenters concerning how much money it will take to rehab. the 3 portals.
They were vague. One item to take from the presentation is Jeeves users are loyal. While new user growth stalled in Q-3 some the blame was placed on seasonality issues.
Rarely addressed is the fact that ASKJ is hedged by some of the same houses that are long GOOG. Retail investors move the stock up on company and sector enthusiasm only to be swept out on any excuse.
No one can deny the tech properties of ASK are top shelf. Teoma has tremendous relevancy.
The portals have a loyal custumer base and Jeeves will find a way to tap these users.
The main overhang with Jeeves IMO is the dependence on Google AdWords for so much of its revenue. LookSmart showed us in 2003 that such dependence is dangerous. There are major differences between the old LOOK/MSN relationship and GOOG/ASKJ but the market would like to see less dependence here.

The analysts in the conference call seemed displeased with the vague answers from the presenters concerning how much money it will take to rehab. the 3 portals.


Why in the world isn't Jeeves promoting the fact that the Dell portal is powered by MyWay? Dell sells about 25 million computers a year. From what I have seen MyWay is the default home page on new Dell computers. What better way to distribute a portal on desktops?

Hey JeevesRep, am I correct that MyWay is the default homepage on new Dell computers? Thats what I read in the Dell support forums. Why have I not even seen a press release from you guys on the Dell portal?

http://dell.myway.com

For those of you who think this isn't a real issue

From the second quarter 10Q -

• Co-Branded Portal. In addition, we build and operate a customized portal for Dell, Inc. at Dell.MyWay.com using the content modules and technology we developed for our own sites. We share the ad revenues generated by the portal with Dell, including results page ad revenues generated by searches originating from the co-branded portal.

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/040809/askj10-q.html

Now their whole conference call was the portals need to be improved, and NOT ONE MENTION of the Dell portal? Its baffling.

Adding to the mystery - A UK version of MyWay

http://delluk.myway.com/

Investors usually do not like when a company guides below estimates. Although I agree that a selloff was exaggerated. :mad:

Hey JeevesRep, am I correct that MyWay is the default homepage on new Dell computers? Thats what I read in the Dell support forums. Why have I not even seen a press release from you guys on the Dell portal?

http://dell.myway.com

We have just bougth six Dell PC's here and they were all set to blank home pages when they were first switched on!

Creative Craig--
Thanks for that info. It confuses the matter but thanks anyway.
Since the traffic to Dell.MyWay.com is 7 percent of total traffic to MyWay and rising how is this happening?
Clarification on the matter by ASK (or anyone) would be nice.
:confused:

Hey Webvisitor - It went up to 8% on the Alexa ratings today and look what else showed up on Alexa with additional 1% of MyWay's traffic. A Dell MyWay small business portal -


http://dellbiz.myway.com