Ask Jeeves to be acquired by IAC ?

Update - The acquisition for $1.85 billion in stock, valuing Ask Jeeves at $28.24 a share was announced Monday 21st March. Ask Jeeves had sales of about $200 million in 2004.

The WSJ is reporting that Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp is near a deal to purchase the fifth-largest Web-search service, Ask Jeeves Inc., for around $2 billion in stock. If the deal goes through it could make Ask Jeeves a powerhouse in the hot area of local search as it potentially tightens its ties to IAC's Citysearch Web site.