Ask.com has relaunched their search engine last night to "provide people with a faster, easier, and richer search experience."
Ask.com has decided to use the three pane interface and many of the features from the Ask X interface.
Here is the home page of Ask.com with the polka dots skin.
It is refreshing. When I began typing a query, vanity search, it offered search suggestions.
You can also customize your skin by clicking on the "Skins" link.
And here is the three pane view, with search box on left, results in middle and vertical search items on right.
Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has a detailed write up and so does Gary Price at ResourceShelf of all the features of the news Ask.com.
Will it make a difference? That is the current SEO/SEM discussion in the forums.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Search Engine Watch Forums and DigitalPoint Forums.