Scoring some points against its rivals, Ask.com has been selected to power natural search and sponsored listings on Lycos.

Ask.com will replace MSN-powered organic search results and also take over sponsored search listings, which had been provided by Google, Media Post reports. The partnership will allow Ask.com to boost its brand and expand its paid listings business. Lycos had 25.7 million unique visitors in September and generates around 125 million search queries a month.

Lycos cited Ask.com's search technology, including its Zoom feature, which offers suggestions to expand or narrow a search query, as the reason for the change.

Anton Konikoff, CEO of search marketing firm Acronym Media, told MediaPost that the partnership will make it easier for advertisers to work with Lycos, since Ask.com is already included in many paid search media plans. However, Konikoff also cautioned that 10 sponsored search results per query on Lycos could alienate some visitors.