Ask Jeeves hands Fallon £15m European ad work

Internet service provider Ask Jeeves has handed its pan-European advertising business to Fallon following a competitive pitch. It is understood to be worth about &£15m.

It is thought that incumbent TBWA/London was invited to pitch. The agency, which was appointed in 2000, will continue work with Ask Jeeves until early next year on a project to launch the service in a number of European countries.

The pitch, which was overseen by vice-president of marketing Rachel Johnson, was called following the acquisition of Ask Jeeves by IAC/Interactive Corp in the summer. It understood that the new brief includes the repositioning of Ask Jeeves and brand advertising.

Ask Jeeves is also reviewing its advertising account in the US, which is held by TBWA Chiat Day San Francisco. The company spent $7m (&£3.9m) in the US on television advertising in the first three months of the year, after returning to the small screen for the first time in four years to highlight a brand redesign.

To challenge the dominance of Google, TBWA developed the strapline “Ask Jeeves – the find engine” for a campaign last year. It is not known if this strapline will continue to be used.