Ask Jeeves to Lose Mascot, Change Name

The genteel butler that has been Ask Jeeves Inc.’s face for nearly a decade is getting ousted in a corporate takeover.

Jeeves, the slightly chubby and balding English butler, isn’t the kind of image e-commerce conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp wants to represent the Ask Jeeves search engine, Chairman Barry Diller says. His New York-based company bought Ask Jeeves for $2.3 billion in July.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs investor conference last week, Diller announced that his company intended to drop Jeeves as a mascot and shorten the search site’s name to Ask or Ask.com.

After Diller’s speech, Oakland-based Ask Jeeves issued a statement that said no decision had been reached on what the company’s new name would be or when the change would occur.

IAC shares rose 25 cents to $25.23.