This image was lost some time after publication.

According to The New York Times, Barry Diller has just laid out $2 billion for Ask Jeeves. Yes, you read that right: two billion bones for a website you probably haven't gone to since 1999.

According to Geraldine Fabrikant and Terence Neilan's report:

IAC/InterActive owns a variety of Internet businesses. Its principle holdings are Expedia, Ticketmaster, Home Shopping Network, Match.com and CitySearch. Advertising spending on search sites is rapidly growing and Mr. Diller's company appears to be trying to tap into a market dominated by Google and Yahoo.

Maybe he should've just invested in a time machine and gone back to the era when internet companies were hot?

Ask Jeeves Inc. to Be Bought for $2 Billion [NYT]

[Diller photo via Forbes]