Butler Jeeves back in Ask.com fold

BANGALORE, INDIA: Butler Jeeves is back. Popular search engine Ask has decided to bring the Jeeves name back to its branding.

The company has said that the decision has been prompted by user demand and it has nothing to do with bad times for the company.

According to a company official, Ask.com has seen a growth of 20 per cent this year, which means it is not struggling.

"We have been focused on developing an outstanding producer that will deliver outstanding results and Jeeves is just the icing on the cake,” the official was quoted as saying.

The fictional butler back into its corporate branding means Ask.com will now be able to fulfill its aim of giving its users the answers they need for the lives they lead.

The company feels that Jeeves's role would be to give its users the answers they seek in a more human way. It may be recalled that Ask had dropped Jeeves in 2006 as part of a series of efforts to give it a facelift aimed at increasing market share and also taking on search giant Google in a more effective manner.

The search engine had earlier tried out a series of re-branding exercises, including a TV campaign portraying it as an underground alternative to Google.

Now with users demanding Ask to bring back the fictional character back to its corporate branding, it is expected that they will applaud the decision. In 2006, when Jeeves was shown the door, there was a campaign from users to have him reinstated.