Jeeves asks to become Google's partner

NEWS Search engine Ask Jeeves is set to link up with rival Google in a bid to earn some money. The deal will see Ask Jeeves running advertising-motivated search results from Google on its Ask.com and Teoma.com websites starting 3 September this year, when the Q&A style search engine will terminate its current deal for the same service with Overture Services. Ask Jeeves said its revenues will double when it dumps Overture for Google. It expects the deal to generate revenues of around $100m over three years from the launch of the service. Ask Jeeves predicts the service will bring in profits of around $1m on revenue of $21m during the fourth quarter of this year, a significant step up from the $8.5m second quarter loss reported yesterday. Overture Services has been placing advertising-based search results on Ask Jeeves since June 2001. Since its launch Ask Jeeves has lost $694m.