Ask.com

Ask.com (originally known as Ask Jeeves) was an American answer engine, e-magazine, and former web search engine operated by Ask Media Group and owned by People Incorporated. Founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California, the service became one of the earliest prominent search engines on the World Wide Web during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The original Ask Jeeves platform was designed to allow users to submit questions in natural language rather than relying solely on keyword-based searches, a feature that distinguished it from many competing search engines of the era. Its branding centered on the character Jeeves, a valet inspired by the fictional servant created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. The original software was designed and implemented by Gary Chevsky, while Warthen, Chevsky, and Justin Grant led the development of the graphical user interface and the site's initial launch as AskJeeves.com. During the late 1990s dot-com boom, Ask Jeeves expanded rapidly and became publicly traded. In 2006, the company discontinued the "Jeeves" branding and relaunched as Ask.com, focusing more directly on competing with major search engines such as Google, Yahoo! Search, and MSN Search. Ask.com operated its own web crawler and search algorithm for several years, though it struggled to maintain market share against larger competitors. In late 2010, Ask.com ceased developing its own search technology and transitioned back toward a question-and-answer format, outsourcing many search functions to external providers. During the 2010s and 2020s, the site increasingly emphasized curated articles, trending topics, entertainment content, and automated news aggregation. Ask.com was shut down on May 1, 2026, ending nearly three decades of operation.