Got Answers and Nowhere to Share Them?
- Posted November 29th, 2006 at 7:01 pm by Yahoo! Search
- Categories: Answers
Today we learned that Google Answers is closing. That’s a shame because some great knowledge was created on that service by the Google Answers Researchers.
The Yahoo! Answers community continues to thrive and grow. We believe in the power of community; in people helping people get answers to their questions.
So, this is an open invitation for those researchers to join us. Please consider sharing your knowledge with millions of people on Yahoo! Answers; connect with users with shared interests; get answers to all your questions; and help build the world’s most vibrant and trusted community.
The folks who are researchers and information specialists have been at this longer than us, and there’s a lot we can learn from you. We’ve set up a Yahoo! Group for former Google Answers Researchers and we’d prefer that one of the exGARs help moderate the group.
Finally, we’re also going to be meeting up with some of the most prolific Yahoo! Answers users here at the Sunnyvale campus on Wednesday, December 13. And we’d like Google Answers researchers to join us, tell us what you think and get to know what we’re doing here. Please drop us a line!
We look forward to seeing you on Yahoo! Answers!
Tomi Poutanen
Yahoo! Social Search
- 22 Comments
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Thanks for the warm welcome! I joined the group you made for us, and I see I’m not alone there…
Sincerely,
Cynthia-ga
Hey, we invited them first :)
Seriously though, it is indeed a shame. I used Google Answers myself and loved it.
No matter which knowledge exchange the exGARs join, Yahoo Answers, Yedda or AskMetaFilter – they’re a group of smart people and I am sure they will continue to enjoy sharing their research skills with the people who need this help.
Hey Tomi, thanks for the offer. I actually joined Y!A some months ago, to get my friend to stop pestering me about it. I’ve answered 2? 3? questions, found that it was entertaining…but…well, that lack of pay thing gets in the way of giving it a lot of time.
There are some concerns about the new group. What are you doing to make sure that it’s only REAL GARs (not ex. I don’t hear the fat lady, y’know?) Or do you intend for it to just be open to anyone who wants to claim to be one?
Missy – I’m going make GARs moderators of the Group. I’ve asked a few already. I think it is best left up to you to control members to keep it ex-GAR only.
Talk about rubbing Google’s noses in it, though I don’t know if that was the intention. However, on the Answeers front, Yahoo! was always my prefered choice because it’s free. Why should I have to pay for a question to be answered? With Yahoo! I don’t have to. However, should Yahoo! Answers be part of search? A lot of the questions require opinion based answers rather than fact ones. Perhaps there should be a separate community department, which includes 360, chat, groups and Answers.
Tomi, this a very commendable way talking about the competitor. Good luck with the initiative
“on the Answeers front, Yahoo! was always my prefered choice because it’s free. Why should I have to pay for a question to be answered?”
To get a good answer, of course.
The difference between Yahoo Answers and Google Answers can most clearly be seen in this great video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4E5btrmqyA
LovedGA:
You are right, but 95% of the questions aren’t worth paying for, and 95% of the Internet audience don’t want to pay. Alas, GA may have a valid business model, but it just can’t beat the law – money comes from traffic.
David..
Yes, and Google has more traffic than anyone (besides Yahoo, that is). If they would have promoted it even in a tiny fashion, it would have been a success. Everyone that I pointed to it 1)had never heard of it and 2)thought it was a great resource.
Sign the petition to Google:
http://www.savegoogleanswers
Watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4E5btrmqyA
So does this mean that Yahoo Answers moderators (ex Google Answers Researchers) would get paid? If there is some form of payment for high volume answering, sign me up!
;)
I must say that I do respect the ysearchblog for having a comments component; the Google blog does not, sadly.
The real difference was Google Answers just used plain HTML while Yahoo’s service uses endless Javascripts which get censored by ad blockers and therefore the site is cripples and I must choose either to leave it or disable my ad blocker completely.
Much as with “Save GA”, I’ve found Y!A to mostly offer irrelevant answers from people who either didn’t read or didn’t understand serious questions. Did I use GA? No – any answer that I’d be prepared to pay to have answered, I’d want answered privately.
I’m looking forward to seeing whether ex-GARs can find a model that improves on Y!A while making more financial sense than GA. There should be a model here. Perhaps the model is that public questions are free and private answers are charged?
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