Even after adding more bells and whistles, Ask still primarily appealed to women who used the search engine primarily to get simple answers. Women are also a familiar demographic for Safka, who was chief executive of InterActiveCorp's online dating site, Match.com, before taking the reins at Ask.

Li predicted many married women and mothers will be thrilled to have a search engine focusing on their interests. "It's not so much that these women have simple questions," she said. "It's just that they are so busy that they need fast answers."

Color me offended. Although I'm not married, so I guess they aren't supposed to appeal to me- I'm a woman who needs complex answers, dammit.