Those who have always wanted their own butler can get their wish, virtually,
as search engine Ask Jeeves
Inc. Thursday debuted a customized service called Personal Jeeves.
Personal Jeeves as a platform that provides targeted information and
customized services to consumers based on their needs and interests.
Features include a daily answer, which provides customized national and
world news, including breaking political, business and sports stories. Also
available are personalized stock quotes, individual sports scores,
local weather conditions and a daily horoscope.
Partners in the Daily Answer service include Weathernews, Sportsticker, iVillage’s (IVIL)
Astrology.net and Reuters (RTRSY).
Personal Jeeves is the first in a series of butler services that Ask Jeeves
(ASKJ)
plans to offer on Ask.com. One possibility that caught a lot of media
attention earlier this week is an adult-themed search engine. The company
has registered the domain names www.asksex.com and www.askadult.com, though
no solid plans have been announced.
“Our mission is to make Ask Jeeves an essential service to consumers by
incorporating features that you would expect from the world’s first Internet
butler,” said Ted Briscoe, senior vice president and general manager of the
Ask Jeeves Consumer Question Answering Service. “Personal Jeeves is an
important first step in making every person feel as though Jeeves is their
own assistant on the Web.”