Ask.com Gives Seattle Residents What They Want With "You Asked, We Answered"

OAKLAND, Calif., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ask.com, the number one online brand for questions and answers, today launched a Seattle-based campaign aimed at bringing more enjoyment to the everyday. Reflecting the top-of-mind themes for Seattleites[*], the campaign will invite residents to vote on which of three options they'd like to see happen in their city. Coined "You Asked, We Answered," the poll results will lay the groundwork for an exciting event in which Ask will reveal and respond to Seattle residents' most popular request.

"We've shifted our marketing focus to a highly-targeted local strategy and Seattle continues to be a top market for us, especially when it comes to connectivity on mobile devices," said Valerie Combs, spokesperson at Ask.com. "We want to show the community a little love and while we can't permanently do away with those 520 bridge tolls or promise more sunshine, we can make their days a little easier."

The campaign will run in multiple phases. First, Ask will poll residents in numerous ways:  (1) in-person street teams engaging with residents in popular locations (2) a dedicated website, www.seattleasks.com, which provides more information and tallies votes (3) locals with iPhones can also vote by downloading Ask.com's recently-launched Pollroll app, a social polling app that allows users to send polls to friends and those nearby. Once downloaded, Seattle residents can click on the "Nearby" section for exclusive access to the "You Asked, We Answered" poll. 

Residents will be able to vote for whether they'd like Ask to:

• Ease The Morning Commute – Getting excited about an early morning drive to work can be a tough order in any city. But if locals say this is the issue they most want addressed, Ask will partner with local small-batch coffee roaster Caffe Vita to brighten up the post-Memorial Day commute with free coffee at various Park & Ride locations.
• Minimize Stadium Traffic – If gridlock at Safeco Field after a Mariners game is Seattle's headache, Ask may just have the solution. We can't guarantee a win, but we'll provide transportation home so fans can better enjoy their trip to the ball game.
• Save the Wading Pools – Budget cuts have forced the city to restrict hours of operation at Seattle's well-known wading pools and close down several of these historic landmarks altogether. If what Seattleites want most is to stay cool this summer, Ask will chip in the funds necessary to keep wading pools across the city open.

The polling portion of the campaign will remain open for the next two weeks and results will be announced later this month. For more information, or to vote for what you'd most like to see Ask deliver Seattle, go to www.SeattleAsks.com or download Pollroll.    

About Ask.com

With more than 100 million global users, Ask.com is the number one online brand for questions and answers and an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI).  Now available as a mobile service, Ask.com mobile apps have been downloaded more than 1.5 million times. More information is available at www.ask.com or http://blog.ask.com.

[*] *Ask.com conducted research among local residents and marketers, and three key areas were identified as priorities for Seattle residents. The final three poll "answers" were selected based on multiple factors, including urgency, feasibility and cost.

SOURCE Ask.com