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Ask expects the acquisition to expand its audience to more than 145 million unique monthly users, making it the world's ninth-largest web company.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, at which point Ask will begin more tightly integrating the two services, showing video clips next to dictionary definitions for example.

More than 30% of Ask's searches already fall within the reference category, the company reveals.

Though only 20 people work at Lexico, the company has managed to build ad revenue quickly, which Ask expects to benefit from its larger network and partnership with Google.

Ask did not disclose the financial details of the deal, but admitted it was considering further acquisitions.