Ask Jeeves Acquires Excite Europe

    OAKLAND, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ask Jeeves, Inc., a
 leading provider of information retrieval technologies, brands and Internet
 advertising services, today announced the acquisition of Excite Italia B.V.,
 the operator of Excite Europe, a network of pan-European portal properties,
 from Tiscali, S.p.A.  Ask Jeeves acquired the U.S.-operated Excite.com portal
 in March 2004.
     "This deal is a next step in Ask Jeeves' European expansion strategy,"
 said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask Jeeves, Inc. "Access to Excite's pan-European
 operational infrastructure and market knowledge will accelerate our European
 growth initiative and provide an instant revenue stream from additional users
 and advertisers."
     The acquisition of Excite Europe will extend Ask Jeeves' ownership of the
 Excite brand beyond the United States, giving the Company ownership of
 Excite's Internet domains throughout Europe as well as control of existing
 portal offerings in several major European markets including Spain, Italy,
 France, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The acquisition provides
 immediate access to a wealth of resources in the European portal market in
 terms of users, operations, market knowledge and revenue streams. Ask Jeeves
 will also have the ability to extend its leading search technology to Excite
 Europe users.
     Excite is a well-known name on the Internet, offering search and portal
 services since 1995 and recognized for pioneering the customizable start page.
 Excite will remain a separate brand under Ask Jeeves Inc., with operations
 continuing out of Excite Europe's headquarters in Rome, Italy.
     The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
     Ask Jeeves does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on
 2005 revenues or earnings per share, and does not expect the acquisition to
 affect Ask Jeeves' financial guidance as issued in connection with its first
 quarter earnings announcement on April 27, 2005.
 
     Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements
     This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
 of the Private Securities Litigation reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
 statements include all statements regarding the impact of Excite Europe on Ask
 Jeeves' revenues, earnings per share and guidance, and all other statements
 regarding future features, functionality and anticipated benefits of Ask
 Jeeves product and service offerings. Actual results, developments or events
 may differ materially from those referenced in forward-looking statements.
 Factors that may cause actual results, developments or events to differ from
 the related forward-looking statements are described in the risk factors
 described in Ask Jeeves' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
 December 31, 2004, subsequently filed Form 10-Qs and other public filings made
 with the SEC, all of which are available without charge at www.sec.gov.  Ask
 Jeeves undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements for
 future events, circumstances or developments.
 
     About Ask Jeeves, Inc.
     As the 6th largest global web property (ComScore Media Metrix, March
 2005), Ask Jeeves Inc. delivers world-class information retrieval products
 through a diverse portfolio of Web sites, portals and downloadable
 applications. Ask Jeeves' search and search-based portal brands include: Ask
 Jeeves (Ask.com, Ask.co.uk and es.Ask.com), the Ask Jeeves Japan joint venture
 (Ask.jp), Ask Jeeves for Kids (AJKids.com), Bloglines (bloglines.com), Excite
 (excite.com), iWon (iwon.com), My Way (myway.com) and Fun Web Products
 (funwebproducts.com). Additionally, Ask Jeeves owns the differentiated search
 technology Teoma, as well as natural language processing, portal and ad-
 serving technologies. Ask Jeeves generates revenue from advertisers seeking to
 reach the company's broad-based online audience. Founded in 1996, Ask Jeeves
 has been a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq National Market since July
 1999. Its headquarters are located in Oakland, California, with offices
 throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Asia. For more
 information, visit http://www.Ask.com or call 510-985-7400.
 
     NOTE:  Ask Jeeves, AJinteractive, Ask.com, Teoma, My Way, My Search, My
 Web Search, iWon, Excite and Bloglines are trademarks or registered trademarks
 of Ask Jeeves, Inc.
 
 

SOURCE  Ask Jeeves, Inc.