Ask Jeeves: 'When will you start making money?'

Internet search engine Ask Jeeves has reacted to the economic downturn by announcing it is unlikely to hit profitability in line with earlier expectations.

Ask Jeeves had hoped to break even or be profitable by the end of this year, but announced second quarter results today that show losses of $9.9m. However, this is still well down on losses of $25.9m for the same quarter the previous year. Revenue was $16.7m for the quarter, however this was down on the corresponding quarter figure of $19.1m.

The fall in revenues was attributed largely to the decrease in online advertising, with decreasing ad revenues set to delay its move into profitability.

Ask Jeeves axed a quarter of its staff last December.

Shares in the search engine fell in after hours trading from $1.56 to $1.30 - well down on an all-time high of $169.