Ask.com Buys Dictionary.com

Ask.com appears to want to deliver more than just answers. Today it announced it will purchase Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com in a deal with the owner of those sites - Lexico Publishing.

I sometimes use Dictionary.com; and Thesaurus.com, too. So it follows that news of Ask.com buying up Lexico's online references caught my attention this morning.

The reason I like those sites: Straightforward, no muss, no fuss access to the reference tools I need. Sure, I also use Microsoft Word's built-in tools, but sometimes it doesn't cut the mustard and deliver just the right word or expanded definition I'm looking for.

Reports say that Ask.com plans to create reference "synergy" (don't you love that word?) between Ask.com searches and dictionary searches. I just hope that in the changeover Ask.com doesn't decide to turn these usable and friendly sites into marketing vehicles for Ask.com and bog them down with ads and confusing links.

Here's to keeping things facile.

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