Monday, March 21, 2005
IAC close to Ask Jeeves Acquisition
IAC/InterActiveCorp headed by entrepreneur Barry Diller is close to acquiring Ask Jeeves, The Wall Street Journal reports. IAC, which also owns other large Web properties such as Expedia and Match.com would purchase Ask Jeeves Inc. for $2 billion in stock.
IAC will surely use the purchase to integrate its already large repertoire of Internet services into the Ask Jeeves search engine, albeit carefully.
From the Wall Street Journal:
"...consumers over the years have been wary of search engines that direct them too strongly to advertisers' sites or related Web properties. Google's success is in part attributed to its attempts at retaining neutrality regarding the sites and information it searches. So IAC will have to tread carefully in any attempts to tie Ask Jeeves to its other commercial sites."
With the number of large web presences for sale diminishing rapidly, made alarmingly clear by the New York Time's purchase of About.com last month, this will be a very important purchase by IAC.
IAC will surely use the purchase to integrate its already large repertoire of Internet services into the Ask Jeeves search engine, albeit carefully.
From the Wall Street Journal:
"...consumers over the years have been wary of search engines that direct them too strongly to advertisers' sites or related Web properties. Google's success is in part attributed to its attempts at retaining neutrality regarding the sites and information it searches. So IAC will have to tread carefully in any attempts to tie Ask Jeeves to its other commercial sites."
With the number of large web presences for sale diminishing rapidly, made alarmingly clear by the New York Time's purchase of About.com last month, this will be a very important purchase by IAC.
