Desktop search is an emerging area for search engine companies such as Ask Jeeves, as they try to expand.
Leading search engine Google reportedly is preparing to release software that lets people search for text and files stored on their computer's hard drive. But desktop search poses different problems than does Web search, and search companies' plans could easily be upset by those of operating-system makers such as Microsoft, whose Windows software runs on more than 90 percent of the world's PCs.
"We expect that Tukaroo's desktop search and information management capabilities will enable Ask Jeeves to deliver a seamless, end-to-end search experience across the desktop and the Internet," Ask Jeeves CEO Steve Berkowitz said in a statement.
San Jose, Calif.-based Tukaroo was founded last year. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
