In search, competing with Google is impossible, Diller says

Ask.com is giving up on the search business after finding it too difficult to compete against Google, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Barry Diller, the chief executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns Ask.com, made it clear Google's market dominance is the reason Ask is backing out of search.

“We’ve realized in the last few years you can’t compete head on with Google,” he said to Bloomberg.

The assessment lends credence to Google critics who have called for greater antitrust scrutiny in the search market. They argue that network effects have a strong impact on building a successful search business, helping Google maintain its solid lead.

As the top search company, Google controls 65 percent of all U.S. searches, Bloomberg reports, citing Nielsen data. Ask.com was ranked sixth among search providers. It controlled less than 2 percent of these searches.