My mother – Diane Wyles – gave each of her children a “Web TV” to quickly get us all online. This was a small metal box that we connected to the TV which allowed the internet to appear on the screen. We then wrote messages and asked questions via a remote-controlled keypad. All this seemed very advanced at the time – even though the dial-up was analogue and only one person could be online at a time. I thought Ask Jeeves was British due to the Butler! This was before Google cornered the market and before the bourgeoisie had developed the technology for capitalism to colonise the net and the media to swamp it with false news and disinformation. In just 25-years we lost the freedom the net gave us to defy our own national governments. The status quo has now been re-affirmed and it is business as usual.
Every great search
must come to an end.
As IAC continues to sharpen its focus, we have made the decision to discontinue our search business, which includes Ask.com. After 25 years of answering the world’s questions, Ask.com officially closed on May 1, 2026.
“To the millions who asked…”
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.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 