Jeeves - that butler mascot of search site AskJeeves - is to be pensioned off.

Exactly when he'll be shown the door has yet to be decided but it seems that the cold hearts at Inter-Active Corp - which acquired the search engine earlier this year for around £1bn - are worried that users are "confused" about the butler and what he stands for.

The Beeb reports the demise of Jeeves - named after the resourceful butler of novelist P G Wodehouse - was revealed by Inter-Active boss Barry Diller when he spoke recently at a conference.

Clearly, readjusting to life outside the world of search engines will be hard for Jeeves. But El Reg has managed to track down another has-been internet icon - AOL UK's "Connie" - who was dumped by her employers in 2003.

A friend of Connie's told us: "Connie is spending more time with her virtual family - she may have retired from the online world but her principles live on.

"Her advice to any other Internet icons would be to retire gracefully and not to consider comebacks or new careers." ®