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With the start of the new school year, Oakland’s Ask.com has upgraded its

Ask Kids search engine, the company said Wednesday.

The Oakland company said the search service is part of its strategyto use its search technology for specialized search sites such as , a search engine for the black community launched in April.

Ask Kids offers such features as a customizable home page, easyhomework help, study tools, and games.

Web sites in the service’s core search index are selected byan editorial team as child-appropriate, offering a safe searchenvironment for children.

Ask.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp, which last week completed a breakup into five publicly tradedcompanies, with IAC retaining its Internet properties includingAsk.com and Match.com.