Ask Jeeves has launched a beta version of a new Japanese-language search engine. Based on the Emeryville-Calif. search vendor's Ask.com search portal, Ask.jp was developed by Ask Jeeves Japan Co. Ltd, a joint venture of Ask Jeeves and Japan-based transcosmos.

With the launch, Ask Jeeves joins Google and Yahoo as one of only three search portals in Japan that provide their own search technology.

"International expansion is an important component of our corporate growth strategy," said Ask Jeeves CEO Steve Berkowitz in a statement. "We are happy that Japanese Web users are now able to take advantage of our unique search experience and the superior relevancy our technologies provide."

The Japanese-only index of Ask.jp includes more than 150 million Web pages and pages will be added continuously along with other improvements and features. Ask Jeeves intends to formally launch a fully functional version of Ask.jp in the first quarter of 2005.

Ask Jeeves has incorporates its proprietary Teoma search technology into Ask.jp. Similar to Google and Yahoo search engines, Teoma uses link popularity to determine page ranking, but also analyzes each pages reputation among experts to assess relevancy for a particular topic.

The joint venture between Ask Jeeves and transcosmos, Ask Jeeves Japan Co., Ltd., was established in September 2000.

Established in 1966, transcosmos was among the first outsourcing companies of Japan's information industry. In June 2002, the company rebranded itself as a marketing chain management company with a focus on corporate marketing activities via broadband and VoIP.