Ask Jeeves Closes Acquisition of Interactive Search
Holdings
EMERYVILLE, Calif., May 6, 2004 -- Ask Jeeves, Inc. (ASKJ), a
leading provider of information retrieval technologies, brands and
Internet
advertising services, today
announced it has closed the acquisition of privately-held
Interactive Search Holdings, Inc.
"The acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings is an important
step in Ask Jeeves' growth strategy. This acquisition doubles our
market share and enhances our ability to compete in the
fast-growing search market," said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask
Jeeves. "We now have substantially more traffic and
advertising
inventory, which we believe will increase our value to advertisers
and partners. Additionally, consumers like to access information in
different ways and we believe through our expanded portfolio of
brands we will be in an even better position to meet those needs."
Laptop Battery According to Nielsen NetRatings (March 2004), with the
acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings, Ask Jeeves:
About Ask Jeeves, Inc. Ask Jeeves, Inc. wide search, providing consumers with authoritative and fast ways to find relevant information to their everyday searches. Ask Jeeves deploys its search technologies on Ask Jeeves (Ask.com and Ask.co.uk), Teoma.com, and Ask Jeeves for Kids (AJKids.com). In addition to its Web sites, party web sites. Ask Jeeves is based in Emeryville, California, with offices in New York, Boston, New Jersey, Los Angeles, London and Dublin.
Thinkpad -- Becomes the 7th largest domestic Web property in terms of
unique users;
-- Extends its reach to 27% of the domestic Internet,
representing
approximately 39 million unique users; and
-- Increases its reach of domestic searchers to 25%, or
approximately 29
million unique searchers.
- Fast, Like searching the Internet, users simply type key words into a search box to let Ask Jeeves Desktop Search scour their computer for matching results. Users can narrow their searches by selecting categories like Office Documents, Music, Pictures, MyJeeves, News and others, or they can sort results by a variety of parameters. Controls are also provided for users to define how much of their computers they want Ask Jeeves Desktop Search to index, as well as the speed (and thus the amount of bandwidth devoted) with which they want it indexed.
Microsoft Interactive Search Holdings' Web properties and businesses
include My Way, iWon, Excite, My Search, My Web Search and the
MaxOnline advertising network.
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec 15, - Ask Jeeves(R), Inc. (ASKJ), a leading provider of information retrieval brands, today introduced a beta desktop search application. Fast, relevant, and flexible, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search(TM) makes it easy for people to find information on their computers or the Internet.
Laptop Computers Under the terms of the agreement, Ask Jeeves issued 9.3 million
shares of common stock and options and paid approximately $144
million in cash. This reflects an aggregate purchase price of $501
million based on Ask Jeeves' closing price on May 5, 2004.
Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 were $39.2 million. These first quarter results represent 73 percent growth over revenues of $22. ago quarter. "Q1 was another great quarter as our investments in technology, site experience and marketing paid off. year, outpacing the query growth for the search market as a whole, " said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask Jeeves, Inc. "We also executed on important initiatives that we believe will help drive our future growth. We announced the acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings, which is expected to double our market share, and we improved Ask Jeeves' search technology, Teoma, making its search results even more relevant to our users."
Laptop Computer Conference Call Scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 12,
2004
According to the indictment, Jones would steal various IBM and Penguin computer servers from Verisign's warehouse in Virginia and sell them to Johnson. Johnson would then sell the servers to several individuals, who would sometimes place them for sale on eBay. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Jones and Johnson caused Verisign to lose more than $120, 000 worth of computer equipment. In the indictment, Jones and Johnson are charged in three counts with causing the interstate transportation of stolen property, namely IBM 330 and 335 servers, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
Desktop Computer Ask Jeeves will hold a conference call to discuss the
acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings and to give more detail
on the combined Company's financial model and metrics on May 12,
2004 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. A more detailed outlook will be
presented on the call than is contained in this release. Interested
persons can listen to a live broadcast of the conference call on
the Internet at www.ask.com/investor. To listen to the live call,
go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the start time
to download and install the necessary audio software. For those
unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available
one hour after the conclusion of the call at www.ask.com/investor
for a period of three months.
Notebooks Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking
Statements
Lenovo This press release contains forward-looking statements. All
statements regarding the future are forward-looking statements,
including those statements regarding the combined Company's market
share, ability to compete, rate of market-share growth, and value
to advertisers. The matters discussed in those statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute
to such differences include, but are not limited to: Ask Jeeves'
dependence on the Internet and its dependence on a third-party paid
placement provider; the risk of further vertical consolidation in
the Internet search and keyword advertising markets; the risk that
Ask Jeeves' user base might migrate to other search engines or that
its web traffic might otherwise decline; risks associated with
rapid technological change; the risk that companies' Internet
advertising budgets might contract or grow at a slower pace; Ask
Jeeves' dependence on third parties for content, distribution and
advertising delivery; potential lack of market acceptance of Ask
Jeeves advertising products; introduction of new advertising
products or search technologies by competitors; declines in the
average selling price of Ask Jeeves' advertising products; and
adverse economic conditions in any of the major countries or
markets in which Ask Jeeves does business or to which its web
content is targeted. As a relatively short announcement, this press
release cannot present a full discussion of such risks. Further
information on risk factors that could affect Ask Jeeves' financial
results is included in its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K
and subsequent quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Ask Jeeves encourages investors
to read all of the disclosures in its SEC filings for a broader
discussion of important factors that may be material to investors
and may affect Ask Jeeves' business, financial condition and
results of operations.
Hard Drive About Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Travelstar As one of the fastest growing web properties on the Internet,
Ask Jeeves, Inc. provides consumers and advertisers with
information retrieval products across a diverse portfolio of Web
sites, portals and desktop search applications. Ask Jeeves' search
and search-based portal brands include: Ask Jeeves (Ask.com and
Ask.co.uk); Ask Jeeves for Kids (AJKids.com); Excite (excite.com);
iWon (iwon.com); My Search (mysearch.com); My Way (myway.com); My
Web Search (mywebsearch.com) and Teoma (teoma.com). Ask Jeeves also
owns the search technology Teoma, proprietary
natural language processing
technology, as well as portal and ad serving technologies. In
addition to powering several of the Ask Jeeves brands, the Company
syndicates its technologies to help companies increase revenue
through powerful search. Ask Jeeves' advertising services, which
includes Ask Jeeves, The Excite Network, and MaxOnline, provides
advertisers with targeted tools to reach a broad base of highly
valuable customers. Ask Jeeves, Inc. is headquartered in
Emeryville, California, with offices throughout the United States,
as well as in London, Dublin, and Tokyo.
Gateway For more information, visit http://www.Ask.com or call
510-985-7400.
Laptop Parts
NOTE: Ask Jeeves, Ask.com and Teoma are registered trademarks of
Ask Jeeves, Inc. My Way, My Search, My Web Search, iWon, Excite and
MaxOnline are trademarks of Interactive Search Holdings, Inc.
Software Contacts: Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Colby Zintl, Corporate Communications
+1-510-985-7640
czintl@askjeeves.com
Hard Drives Derrick Nueman, Investor Relations
+1-510-985-7485
dnueman@askjeeves.com
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