Ask resurrects Jeeves

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 20 Apr 2009 at 10:32

Ask has brought back Jeeves, as it struggles to make inroads against Google's search dominance.

Jeeves, named after PG Wodehouse's iconic know-it-all butler, was the face of the search engine until 2006 when he was dropped as Ask overhauled the service.

Since then the search engine has failed to soar, though the company claims it has an average of 15 million UK monthly users. That leaves it trailing in fourth place behind Microsoft, Yahoo and Google which dominates 87.3% of the UK market, according to recent Hitwise figures.

The company says the character is back "by popular demand" and that it will now revert to the Ask Jeeves name, with the butler receiving a 3D facelift.

The revamp will also be backed by an extensive social media campaign which will see Jeeves post a "question of the day" as well as accompanying images, videos and diaries. You can also expect to see plenty of the butler on television, with a sizeable media campaign planned.

The reintroduction of Jeeves is the latest in a long line of attempts to spark interest in the service. Ask has already overhauled its search results and promised not to store the data of its users.