Ask.com has shut down, marking the official farewell to the Internet's favorite butler

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Ask.com, nan hunt motor antecedently known for its butler mascot named Jeeves, has officially unopen down. While Ask Jeeves was rebranded to Ask.com successful 2006 by its caller proprietor astatine nan time, InterActiveCorp, this latest closure puts an extremity to nan entirety of nan company's hunt business.

"As IAC continues to sharpen its focus, we person made nan determination to discontinue our hunt business, which includes Ask.com," nan connection connected nan website reads. "After 25 years of answering nan world's questions, Ask.com officially closed connected May 1, 2026."

The connection ended by thanking its millions of users, and saying, "Jeeves' tone endures." As sad arsenic it is to spot a relic of nan early Internet days slice into obscurity, we still person Ask Jeeves to convey for why immoderate users still punch successful afloat questions erstwhile querying Google. On apical of that, Jeeves was built to supply elaborate answers successful earthy language, which could person arguably acted arsenic a precursor to today's AI chatbots for illustration ChatGPT.

Now, Ask.com joins nan Internet graveyard that includes competitors for illustration AltaVista, which unopen down successful 2013. With Ask.com gone, alongside AIM and AOL dial-up services besides sunsetting, we're genuinely coming to an extremity of a circumstantial era of nan Internet.