Ask Jeeves today unveiled a redesign and rebranding, dropping the Jeeves character from its name. IAC Chairman and CEO Barry Diller characterized the butler as “baggage” that was holding back Ask.com from being viewed as a top-tier seach engine, writes Kevin Newcomb for ClickZ News.

“The Jeeves character brought a nice human, emotional touch, and that’s not bad. But it connoted something I don’t think it would allow Ask to play in the central world of search,” Diller said.

One thing that won’t change with our new brand will be our focus on making search better for real people, from heavy searchers to new searchers. Our best innovations have been inspired by this approach to usability. How do people really search and what tools do they really need to be more effective?

In his purest form, this is what Jeeves always stood for, especially to those who worked here, from the founders onward. And no matter what you thought of him, 10 years is a respectable run. That sock puppet didn’t even last two.

Sources: The Ask.com Blog, ClickZ News.