Ask.com Reverts to "Ask Jeeves" Branding

After three years "traveling the world in a quest for knowledge," Jeeves, the iconic butler, is resuming his role as U.K. front man for search engine Ask.

InterActive Corp quickly decided to ditch the beleaguered butler and the Ask Jeeves brand after acquiring the site in 2005, opting instead for the simpler, and perhaps more user-friendly Ask.com domain. Now, it seems user demand, and presumably diminished recognition of the new branding, has prompted a rethink.

"During my sojourn, research showed the public wanted me back, which I found jolly touching. And in that time the engineers toiled hard to make the site look better, work harder and be more personal...just like yours truly," Jeeves wrote on the site today, in answer to the question, "Why are you back?"

Jeeves himself, based originally on a character by PG Wodehouse, has also undergone a slight revamp, and is now presented in rendered 3D in place of the traditional cartoon- style illustration.

To support the new (or should I say old) brand identity, profiles on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are being maintained by Jeeves, much like the efforts of ComparetheMarket.com's Aleksandr the Meerkat.