Ask Launches New Search Engine Interface

Ask.com is releasing right now their new, main interface, called Ask3D and built on the Ask X test site we’ve been watching the last few months.
The new Ask.com search engine contains one of the best search engine interfaces I’ve ever seen, a three-paned interface that clearly communicates a ton of useful features that they hope will inspire a lot of users to switch. It includes:

The new three-pane interface, with the first pane containing the search box, tabs, zoom and related searches, the middle having search results topped by smart answers, along with ads and the occasional “onebox” type result, and the right pane, complete with special results based on your query. Ask says that they’ve filed 12 patents on the new interface.
The right side is powered by a Morph algorithm that chooses from a number of verticals (image search, news, blogs, products, event listings) giving you targeted side […]

Original post by Nathan Weinberg