Popular 90s search engine ‘Ask Jeeves’ finally bites the dust — parent company shutters website that pioneered natural language queries, only a placeholder results page remains
Ask Jeeves, the 1990s search engine known for pioneering natural language queries, has been shut down by its parent company IAC after 30 years of operation. The website, later rebranded as Ask.com, officially closed on May 1, 2026, leaving only a placeholder page. Once a precursor to modern AI chatbots, it could not compete with rivals like Google and Yahoo! over time.
- ▪Ask Jeeves was launched in the mid-1990s and allowed users to ask questions in natural language, a novel approach at the time.
- ▪IAC, the parent company, discontinued Ask.com on May 1, 2026, citing a strategic shift in focus.
- ▪The search engine predated Google by a few years but failed to maintain relevance amid growing competition.
- ▪Ask.com's closure follows the fate of other 1990s search engines like Alta Vista, which also succumbed to Google's dominance.
- ▪Despite its retirement, the original AskJeeves.com domain remains partially accessible with limited functionality.
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Software Search Engines Popular 90s search engine ‘Ask Jeeves’ finally bites the dust — parent company shutters website that pioneered natural language queries, only a placeholder results page remains News By Jowi Morales published 3 May 2026 The online search valet is finally retiring after 30 years of serving up answers to our millions of questions. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter If you were one of the people who went online during the mid-90s, you didn’t rely on Google if you wanted to find…
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