Barry Diller announced Wednesday that IAC/InterActiveCorp, which in July completed its acquisition of AskJeeves, will phase out the ever-smiling butler, the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reported (via paidContent). The search service would be renamed Ask.com, Diller said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia investor conference on Wednesday. He had earlier been reported saying as much to a group of media executives. One reason for the change might be the perception, particularly in Europe, that the mascot represents merely "a gay butler" rather than an information servant.