In a universe dominated by Google, Yahoo and MSN, Ask Jeeves doesn't find the spotlight often enough. That sad fact might soon change as Ask Jeeves has taken two major initiatives, one on the tech front, another on the PR front.

First the fun stuff. Ask Jeeves is going on an advertising binge. They have posted a preview of six 30-second spots on their blog.

Next, the technical stuff. Ask has a great search engine, smart management and a very dedicated staff. They have all the elements for success except the environment in which they work is dominated by the three giants. Ask has spent the past few months acquiring similar tools and technologies to those offered by their larger competitors. Boasting new blog creation software, a well thought-out contextual advertising program and talks with other technology creators in the works, Ask Jeeves is doing its best to brand itself as a credible alternative search engine. Now it looks like they are ready to take a lead with talk of an AskJeeves branded Browser in partnership with Firefox creators Mozilla.org.

A recent posting to the Ask Jeeves Blog by Tech VP Tuoc Luong, details a visit he and Ask CEO Jim Lanzone paid Mozilla two weeks ago. Luong ends his post with this spirited declaration: "Lots of exciting possibilities to help take back the Web..."

The future of the industry is a mystery but with all great mysteries, it looks like the butler is going to continue to play a major role as this story evolves.

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