Ask Jeeves' Corporate Service Selected by Microsoft to Provide Customers with Enhanced Online Support.

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 1999--

Microsoft Will Expand Use of Ask Jeeves(R) Corporate

Question Answering Service

Ask Jeeves, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASKJ), a leading provider of natural-language question answering services on the Web for consumers and companies, today announced that Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) will expand its implementation of the Corporate Question Answering Service on its Personal Online Support site.

Microsoft had previously implemented Ask Jeeves' Corporate Question Answering Service in a phased program to provide customers with an easy way to find product support information exclusively for the Microsoft Windows 98 operating system.

"This is all about customers getting the answers they need to be successful," said Denise Rundle, director of Microsoft's Online Support. "The pilot program proved to us that Ask Jeeves' service is a great mechanism for understanding exactly what our customers need. Listening and acting on customer feedback is what makes it possible for Microsoft to answer more than 250,000 questions each day on its Online Support sites."

"With the Ask Jeeves service, customers can ask questions as if they are speaking to a human being," continued Rundle. "Less experienced customers appreciate the simple approach to getting help. This service puts consumers just two clicks away from relevant information."

Microsoft's selection of the Ask Jeeves' Corporate Service allows consumers to ask questions in plain English, such as "How do I install and remove programs in Windows 98?" or "How do I prevent a password prompt when I start Windows 98?" and be directed to the best answer within the Microsoft site. Ask Jeeves will gather consumer intelligence data by analyzing frequently asked questions and then delivering that data through a regular reporting function. This feature will allow Microsoft to better understand and serve its online customers while improving the site in direct response to users' needs.

"We are enthusiastic about our relationship with Microsoft because it serves as a validation of our Corporate Question Answering Service and its mission to humanize customer interaction on the Web," said Rob Wrubel, president and CEO of Ask Jeeves. "Our relationship with companies such as Microsoft allows us to continue to build a vast network of questions and answers that is serving as an intuitive and effective way to connect people to relevant information, products and services on the Web."

Ask Jeeves' Corporate Question Answering Service customers include Compaq Computer Corporation, Dell Computer Corporation, Iomega Corporation, Micron Electronics, Toshiba Corporation, Datek Online, E

RADE, Office Depot, Inc., Oxygen Media, WebTV Networks,
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and more. Subscribers to the Corporate Question
Answering Service can both license the Ask Jeeves knowledge bases
supporting Ask.com and enlist Ask Jeeves to develop customized
knowledge bases linking to existing Web content. The Corporate
Question Answering Service can be used to answer customer questions,
ranging from general questions about a company to specific pre-sales
and support questions about a product or service.

     About Ask Jeeves, Inc.

     Ask Jeeves provides natural-language question answering services
for consumers and companies on the Web by allowing users to ask
questions in plain English and be directed to Web sites containing the
answer. The Consumer Question Answering Service at Ask.com makes it
easier for people to quickly find relevant information, products and
services online. The Corporate Question Answering Service, which
provides question answering services for company Web sites, helps
companies manage customer interactions for electronic commerce and
support. Both services leverage Ask Jeeves' proprietary technology,
using knowledge bases containing questions and answers to connect
consumers to answers. The knowledge bases are designed to become more
intelligent with use and can be integrated together to create a
question answering network. For more information visit
http://www.ask.com or call 510/985-7400.

     This news release may contain projections or other
forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future
financial performance of the company that involve risks and
uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that results or events discussed
in these statements may differ materially from actual future events or
results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Ask Jeeves
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically its recent
S-1 registration statement, which identify important risk factors such
as the company's limited operating history, history of losses and
anticipation of continued losses, potential volatility of quarterly
operating results, and other risks that are contained in the company's
reports and documents filed from time to time with the SEC.

     Note to Editors: Ask Jeeves, Ask Jeeves for Kids and Ask.com are
trademarks and service marks of Ask Jeeves, Inc. Other product and
company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.