This image was lost some time after publication.

"This place was buzzing today that there will be layoffs here soon," an Ask.com employee tips us off. The tipster complains that since completing "a bunch of tests for new ways to make money, no one in my group has seen or heard from management [since] they had a pizza lunch the first week of January." It's the second Ask layoff rumor we've heard this month.

Earlier, a tipster told us to expect a "big shakeup at Ask.com," including "change in product lineup and company direction." Even more recently, we overheard an exec from an IAC subsidiary complain about typical Barry Diller stinginess. "We're not getting the kind of investment we want from IAC," this exec said. "They're cheap."

(Photo by Feistypoo)