According to Jim Lanzone ("SVP, Search Properties and Bloglines Addict"), Ask Jeeves' primary focus will be on building the Bloglines service to fulfill his vision for it, adding resources to their toolbox to get there faster and better.

There will be no short-term changes to Bloglines that weren't already on their roadmap. Over the long-term, Mark Fletcher will now, as general manager of Bloglines for AJ, Inc., be responsible for that roadmap in the future.

We will take our time determining the optimal business model for the service. We will continue to put the user experience first. As part of a bigger company there will be more options for Bloglines - from indirect monetization (through increased usage of our other brands) to direct if there is a model that makes sense for everyone.

In terms of integration with Ask Jeeves, one of their first priorities will be to pair the Bloglines team with their Teoma search technology team to build world-class blog search. Ask Jeeves will also help distribute Bloglines to a broader audience, from MyJeeves to the portal properties they own that collectively make Ask Jeeves the 7th ranked property on the Web.

Mary Hodder has the scoop: Ask Jeeves Buys Bloglines, integrating Bloglines into their search system.

Their blog already includes links to Top Blogs and Most Popular Blog Links pointing to Bloglines.

Mark Fletcher, the CEO of Bloglines, will thus be employed by Ask Jeeves.

Via Steve Rubel (Micro Persuasion)

Erik Collier, Data Engineering Manager at Ask Jeeves, announces they launched their blog, following Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

For now there's not too much interesting news, except some photos of Ask Jeeves new offices: