The Ask Toolbar is a web-browser add-on that can appear as an extra bar added to the browser's window and/or menu. It is often installed (sometimes without warning) during the installation of other software. Ask.com has entered into partnerships with some software security vendors, whereby they are paid to distribute the toolbar alongside their software.

The Ask.com Toolbar has been known to have adverse effect on your web browser's and overall PC's performance and stability. The Ask.com Toolbar is known to monitor your search queries and browsing habits in order to send you targeted ads and modify your search settings and results.

“The Ask Toolbar is a free browser add-on that allows you to search the Web using the Ask.com search engine directly from Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers. The toolbar software DOES NOT monitor the websites visited by the end user, collect or in any manner report any information about what sites an end users visits (or any click stream activity), nor does it monitor or scrape information when you are on other sites. In short, the Toolbar provides a superior search experience on an ANONYMOUS basis and without any additional monitoring, contextual ads or other nuisances.”

Founded as Ask Jeeves in 1996 and re-named Ask.com in 2005. In the last few years, Ask has been focusing on its search traffic through various methods, the numb More...