Long recognized as the "natural language" search engine, the good folks over at Ask Jeeves announced on their blog this morning that works to integrate their "Smart Answers" technology with shopping search.

In their own words...

Rather than using price and product features as the primary purchasing criteria, this feature enables users to intuitively search for gifts using a wide range of personal criteria, including price, gift occasion, recipient interests, age and gender. In response, we’ll provide a range of gift ideas, from consumer electronics to travel adventures and spa getaways.

From what I can see, the new feature is more of a guided directory than a search engine, but that's not a bad thing. While a strong shopping search engine is a valuable tool, the limitation of shopping search engines is that you have to have at least an inkling of an idea to you you started.

The beauty of Ask.com's new service is that the well-thought out suggestions could serve as a starting point for a new series of searches.

For example, when I got there I couldn't even think of anything to search for as a sample search. So I selected "Cheer Up! Gifts." While browsing the first page, I noticed a "Goonies" t-shirt. Cool. I love Goonies! That sent me off on a hunt for unique t-shirts. Viola!

Certainly worth a look, if you're a fan of shopping search engines. The new service is available at: http://ask.gifts.com/.