Two Silicon Valley-based search engine companies Tuesday reported some cross pollinating on their sites.

San Francisco-based LookSmart says it has cut a distribution deal with Emeryville, Calif.-based question and answer search engine Ask Jeeves .

Under the agreement, LookSmart's LookListings will now be featured in the metasearch results area of Ask Jeeves' search results.

The transaction is a boon to LookSmart, not for its increase of traffic on the company's main site but as a way to get its listings put on Ask Jeeves, which ranks as the 17th most visited site on the Web, according to Jupiter Media Metrix.

"We're pleased to add Ask Jeeves to our distribution network, enhancing the value we deliver to LookListings customers," said LookSmart senior vice president of business development Jim Kaufman. "Increased distribution enables us to provide a higher volume of qualified leads to medium and large direct marketers using our paid listings services."

Kaufman says the agreement helps Ask Jeeves give its users great search results and helps LookSmart broaden its paid listings and directory network, which it says reaches 77 percent of all U.S. Internet users.

LookSmart's other distribution partners include Microsoft's MSN, Excite@Home, AltaVista, iWon, Netscape Netcenter, Inktomi, AOL Time Warner, Prodigy, Juno, CNN, Road Runner, Cox Interactive Media, InfoSpace, and Qwest.

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