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Ask.com Shuts Down as IAC Exits Search

IAC frames the decision as a sharper corporate focus in a search market tilting to generative AI.

Former Ask Jeeves CEO Steve Berkowitz is shown in Emeryville in 2004 with the search engine’s mascot. The internet pioneer, later known as Ask.com, shut down Friday.
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Former ask.com mascot Jeeves, a cartoon butler.
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Overview

  • Ask.com has closed its search service after IAC decided to discontinue its search business, according to an announcement on the site’s homepage.
  • The notice thanks engineers, designers, and millions of users for their support and closes with the line, “Jeeves’ spirit endures.”
  • Ask Jeeves launched in 1997 in Berkeley, founded by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen, and stood out for natural‑language questions and its butler mascot.
  • The brand dropped the Jeeves name and valet logo in 2006 after ownership changes under IAC, and in 2009 it was named NASCAR’s official search engine.
  • Mashable interprets the shutdown as a sign of legacy search brands giving way to generative AI tools and AI agents that now guide how people find information online.