Ask.com

Ask.com (known originally as Ask Jeeves) is an answer engine, e-magazine, and former web search engine, operated by Ask Media Group. It was conceptualized and developed in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen (based in Berkeley, California), and implemented a new engine based on a large language model in 2025.

The original software was designed and implemented by Gary Chevsky. Warthen, Chevsky and Justin Grant then lead the GUI development team, leading to the initial launch under the brand name of AskJeeves.com.

In 2006, the "Jeeves" name was discontinued, and the company emphasised the Ask.com web search engine, which had its own webcrawler and algorithm.

In late 2010, faced with insurmountable competition from larger search engines, the company outsourced its web search technology, and revived its function as a question and answer site.

In 2025, Ask Media Group withdrew from the web search engine market entirely after 27 years. Shortly after the search engine was shuttered, the Ask.com Answer Engine was relaunched as a newsbot service, with new article-style answers being produced automatically by a new generative AI engine.

Three venture capital companies, Highland Capital Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, and The RODA Group were early investors.

Ask.com is currently owned and operated by major U.S. media company InterActiveCorp (IAC), which acquired the Ask Media Group in 2005.