InterActive Corp. (IACI) planning to dump Ask.com's search technology?

Will InterActive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI) be dumping its search and information portal Ask.com? Sort of, according some insider accounts. It wouldn't be jettisoning Ask.com entirely -- it would just be getting rid of the technology that powers the search engine's results. The engine behind Ask.com, Teoma, could be taken out and replaced by Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s technology.

Google already has a stranglehold on internet search. It's been suggested for quite a while that Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) dump its pride in its search engine technology (known as Project Panama for the last few years) and just use Google instead for powering its search engine. Does Google have that much power -- one that would make competitors use its search engine technology to power their own sites? Yes, it does.

If Ask.com were to switch to just using Google, then the search service really would hold little value to the customers using it. Sure, Ask.com would wrap Google search results in its own brand and customer interface, but would there truly be a compelling reason to use Ask.com at that point? Not really. Just like Yahoo!, Ask.com has spent huge amounts of cash to improve its search technology with little to show for it.

That's the first-mover advantage Google has. Even if either had a better search service, that wouldn't mean more search customers. Then again, does either have a superior search service? I personally use Ask.com daily in addition to Google -- it's great. For my sole search engine service, though, it's not that good.