“Baby, it’s not U, it’s IAC,” Barry Diller said as he sold his stake in Vivendi Universal Entertainment for $3.4 billion in order to turn his focus on Internet retailing and services. The deal ends an ongoing legal dispute with over tax payments and frees up Diller to pursue his purchase of Ask Jeeves, compete for online advertising, and spin off his travel businesses, including Expedia.
Last March we shared some thoughts on why IAC’s aquisition of Jeeves was a good thing for both parties involved. We’re getting a similar feeling about this news today.
The $100 million worth of advertising IAC will glean from the deal, courtesy of NBC Universal’s platforms will go a long way toward getting the word out about Jeeves, who’ve made some big strides in their service many people still don’t know about. They’ve been toying with a rebrand for a while now and this will certainly help fatten the marketing budget.
Many say Jeeves is sounding a battle cry and we’re glad to have ringside seats.
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