Another big Internet name is moving to a small town in Eastern Washington.
Moses Lake — The butler may have left the building, but Ask.com has big plans for Moses Lake.
Ask.com, the leading search engine, formerly known as AskJeeves.com and Moses Lake Mayor Ron C. Covey announced that Ask.com will house a new data center in Moses Lake, located in Eastern Washington, Wednesday morning.
Mayor anticipates additional jobs through parent company IAC…
“Moses Lake is an ideal location due to its cooperative business environment, access to low cost, renewable power and superior network connectivity,” Chuck Geiger, chief technology officer of Ask.com, said in a statement Wednesday.
“With these inherent benefits, Eastern Washington is the right choice for Ask.com as we expand our computing infrastructure to support our growth and expanded search services.”
The eco-friendly server facility would enable Ask.com to support its growing query volume and provide additional computing power for processor-intensive search service, including the new Ask3D, which combines images, video and music and traditional Web links on a single search results page, that helps people find what they are looking for faster.
Ask.com will house its new center in the Titan complex, (A former Air Force missile site built during the Cold War,) located at 4949 Randolph Road.
The three-story windowless fortress was built to keep missiles secure, even through a nuclear attack. Now the building’s unique security features are being used to keep sensitive information and data secure.
Ask.com representative Denise Welch said moving into an existing facility is more cost-efficient. She also pointed to the available space and power in the building, and minimal customization requirements.
The Titan facility has zero carbon emissions and utilizes renewable hydropower and a low-energy cooling design. With the new facility, Ask.com will provide an enhanced search experience for users, while furthering its commitment to environmental responsibility.
Moses Lake Mayor Ron Covey said he had the opportunity earlier in the year to meet with executives from Ask.com and its parent company, IAC, who informed him the data center — would not employ a great number of personnel.
“However, there were some additional prospects through IAC which might bring additional companies to the area,” Covey said. “Being made aware of that, I feel there will be a number of jobs opening up through the Ask.com data center and their associated companies.”
Covey said he was glad to see Ask.com select Moses Lake as the site for their center.
Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and Intuit Inc., maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, also have opened or plan to open data centers in nearby Quincy, about 30 miles northwest of Moses Lake in Grant County.
“Ask.com’s presence in Moses Lake will positively impact our community in a variety of ways, and we are pleased to have them as an integral part of the area,” Covey said. “We look forward to Ask.com’s contributions and their ongoing support for the city’s economic development.”
Ask.com spokesman Mel Bolton said the company chose to site for a new data center in Moses Lake because of the area’s “skilled labor force, cooperative business environment, low-cost power, strong network connectivity and excellent environmental conditions.”
Terry Brewer, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Council, said one of the most important factors in the company’s decision was the county’s redundant fiber network.
The county has dual Internet fiber networks operated by two separate carriers, each with their own fiber-optics and routes. If one carrier’s service is down, a user can remain connected with the other, Brewer said.
Brewer added that data centers use a lot of power, so having low-cost electricity is also important.
According to a Titan brochure, the PUD offers low power rates that can offer savings ranging “from $20 million to $80 million compared to locating a data center in other regions.”
Bolton said the company anticipates the new data center will bring millions of dollars in tax revenue to the area.
“Once Microsoft announced, it lit all the lamps in town — and they are still burning bright and there is a lot of interest in Quincy because those big companies committed major capital investment there,” Brewer said.
“We have seen the development of data centers in the Quincy area over the past couple of years, and for Ask.com to choose Moses Lake I think is certainly going to be an asset to the community,” Covey added.
Welch said the facility is being built out, and expected to be operational later in the year.
“We will be hiring in Moses Lake with minimal hires in the beginning as we implement a significant amount of remote management capabilities,” she said. “Ask does not break out employee number by individual locations.”
Last month, Ask.com introduced a new way of displaying search results, called “Ask 3D.” The Oakland-based company will sort its results into three vertical panels spread across the computer screen instead of piling 10 links in a static stack like most major search engines have been doing for the past decade.
Cost of the investment was not available, Welch said.