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After a year of slow but steady growth, Ask.com has redesigned, incorporating Google, Yahoo and Microsoft design elements along with it. Changing things up has helped Ask in the past, so we’ll have to keep an eye on whether this gives Ask.com a nice little boost.

The first noticeable change is the front page. It’s minimalist in nature, but you can change the skin to create a different background.

In the results, the dualing sidebars are gone, and only one on the right remains. The organic results are flush with the left, similar to Google and Yahoo. And there are related searches similar to what you’ll find on Microsoft.

An interesting feature is the AskEraser. It addresses privacy concerns that people have about search.

What do you think of the changes? Give us your first impressions in the comments.

h/t Rafe Needleman @ CNET

Privacy watchdog groups have filed a complaint with the FTC about AskEraser, claiming that the six-week-old service doesn’t live up to its promises of erasing all user search data even when enabled.
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