RIP Ask Jeeves: Beloved internet butler finally | Tech News

It’s troublesome to recollect a time earlier than Google search, when the world of info was continually at our fingertips on smartphones and computer systems by way of an internet connection. But when the online revolution began, there was one other search engine that predated Google – and after 30 years it has finally been shut down for good.

Ask.com, the web site previously and most famously referred to as Ask Jeeves, cased to operate on May 1, 2026.

“Every great search must come to an end”, reads the positioning once you level your browser to Ask.com in the present day.

The area’s proprietor, InterActiveCorp (IAC) has made the choice to close down the positioning, presumably because of its vanishingly small consumer base.

Ask Jeeves was launched in June 1996, predating the primary incarnation of Google search, which debuted in September 1998. Ask Jeeves was one of the primary search engines like google to encourage the use of natural language, a notion on the time that was alien to first time internet customers unfamiliar with what the technology may obtain.

By personifying the search engine as Jeeves, a butler named after a P.G. Wodehouse character, people have been more inclined to ask Jeeves a query, akin to, “what are the best pubs in London?” or “what was the Liverpool score?”, quite than merely typing in key phrases akin to “pubs” or “sports”.

As the trove of knowledge and knowledge on the web grew, more particular searches have been needed as a way to discover sure webpages efficiently.

“As IAC continues to sharpen its focus, we have made the decision to discontinue our search business, which includes Ask.com,” Ask.com now reads.

“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.

“Jeeves’ spirit endures.”

Ask Jeeves efficiently fought with early search engines like google akin to Yahoo and AltaVista earlier than Google swooped in and dominated. Ask Jeeves was rebranded to Ask.com in 2006, with the Jeeves character popping up each now ans then to play on people’s nostalgia for a easier internet in an attempt to claw back some market share.

Though Ask Jeeves inspired us to ask natural language questions within the late Nineteen Nineties, all through the 2000s, Google searches grew to become indifferent from this. It was common to key phrase stuff to seek out what you have been on the lookout for quite than sort a query, as people discovered it garnered higher outcomes.

Today, Google with its Gemini AI product and opponents akin to OpenAI are as soon as again returning to the thought of natural language to look and discover info, although this tech is introduced like an ongoing textual content dialog with a chatbot, quite than presenting you with a web page of search outcomes.