Sorry, Jeeves: Ask.com shuts down search after nearly 30 years

Before there was Google, there was an animated butler named Jeeves who was ready to search the web and find users the answers they were looking for. Now, the website that made Jeeves famous is calling it quits.

Big picture view:

Ask.com posted a farewell message on its website, announcing that the search engine would shut down as of Friday, May 1. The company’s website now redirects to a farewell message thanking everyone who built and used the service over the decades.

What they're saying:

"We are deeply grateful to the brilliant engineers, designers, and teams who built and supported Ask over the decades. And to you—the millions of users who turned to us for answers in a rapidly changing world—thank you for your endless curiosity, your loyalty, and your trust," the web page states, adding, "Jeeves’ spirit endures."

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Dig deeper:

According to the website, Ask’s parent company, InterActivCorp (IAC), opted to shut down its search operations entirely and that included the longtime website. IAC owns multiple other well-known brands including AllRecipes, Better Homes and Gardens, Daily Beast and People.

The backstory:

The former search engine went live as AskJeeves.com in April 1997 before launching in full at the beginning of June that year, according to Search Engine Report. IAC purchased the website in 2005, AdWeek reported.

With its eponymous butler mascot, the company tried to differentiate itself among competing search engines of the time by encouraging users to frame their search queries in the form of a question, or displaying different results under a question that would help users narrow down if the result was going to give them the answer they needed. 

Additionally, Search Engine Report’s article noted, when someone clicked a result, the website would open in a frame, rather than redirect a user to that site.