This came over MarketWatch this morning:
IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) and Ask Jeeves, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASKJ) today announced they have signed
an agreement under which IAC will purchase Ask Jeeves.
IAC is a huge player on the Web. Although few have heard of the parent company, most have heard of holdings that include Match.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com and Expedia.
Of the deal, Barry
Diller, Chairman and CEO of IAC, said, “Ask Jeeves was founded almost ten years ago based on the idea
that simple text search results alone are not sufficient or satisfying – but, rather, that consumers
want answers to questions – and questions posed in natural language and answered with spot-on accuracy
were especially desired and appealing. Of the many search engines launched during that time, Ask
was one of the very few that established itself… and we believe that in the future it has the potential
to become one of the great brands on the Internet and beyond, and by beyond we mean in wireless, in
the search for anything on any device. It is that belief, powered by IAC’s wealth of resources and thriving
businesses, together with the continuing strong management of Steve Berkowitz and his team, that is
the impetus for this transaction.”
This is a pretty big deal in the world of search. Although well below the numbers Google, Yahoo and MSN get in terms of market share, having IAC dollars behind it should make Jeeves a player in terms of marketing alone. Expect to see a lot of Ask Jeeves commercials coming to a TV near you soon.
The question is What will Jeeves carve out as its niche in search. Google and MSN seemed poised to fight over the search for information. Yahoo’s looking like it wants to bring Hollywood to everyone’s PC. Based on his comments, it looks like Jeeves will be honing in on the mobile market, which Google has been getting into over the pass few months (and doing a pretty good job).
It’ll be interesting to see what the Old Butler does in the next 12 months to carve out a strong market for himself. What’s also interesting is the growing number of second-tier wannabes with clout, including, in addition to Jeeves, Amazon’s A9 and AOL.
Any guesses on who’ll be left standing?
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