Say what? Is there really a large enough market out there to support focusing on a narrower subset of people? Ask.com is going to focus on married women looking for help managing their lives.

Whoa. Are they going to have a competitor to Google Earth that shows street level views of where their husbands are? Seriously. I can see where some people might have questions, I can’t think of any questions someone might ask that’s specific to married women.

In a dramatic about-face, Ask.com is abandoning its effort to outshine Internet search leader Google Inc. and will instead focus on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives.

As part of the new direction outlined Tuesday, Ask will lay off about 40 employees, or 8 percent of its work force.

With the shift, the Oakland-based company will return to its roots by concentrating on finding answers to basic questions about recipes, hobbies, children’s homework, entertainment and health.

Doesn’t everyone have questions about recipes, hobbies, children’s homework, entertainment and health? I just don’t understand how you can focus such a product on married women as if they have questions unique to just them. I can’t think of a single topic, from portable playgrounds to a walk in tub, that would relate to “married women” only.

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