Type of business | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Type of site | Answer engine |
Available in | English |
Founded | June 3, 1996 | (as Ask Jeeves) February 2006 (as Ask.com)
Headquarters | 555 City Center Oakland, California, U.S.[1] |
Owner | IAC |
Created by | Garrett Gruener David Warthen (Founders) Douglas Leeds (CEO) |
Parent | Ask Media Group, LLC |
URL | ask.com |
Registration | Optional |
Current status | Active |
Ask.com (known originally as Ask Jeeves) is an internet-based business with a question answering format initiated during 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California.
The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky, from his own design. Warthen, Chevsky, Justin Grant, and others built the early AskJeeves.com website based on that core program. In 2006, the "Jeeves" name was discontinued and they emphasized use of the search engine, which had its own algorithm.[2] In late 2010, with insurmountable competition from more popular search engines like Google, the company outsourced its web search technology and revived its function a question and answer site.[3] The business's president, Douglas Leeds became CEO in 2010.[4]
Three venture capital companies, Highland Capital Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, and The RODA Group were early investors.[5] Ask.com is owned currently by InterActiveCorp (IAC), using the Nasdaq symbol Nasdaq: IAC, and its corporate headquarters is located at 555 City Center, in the Oakland City Center development in downtown Oakland, California.