Google Answers Stops Answering Questions

Google is a company fueled by innovation, which to us means trying lots of new things all the time -- and sometimes it means reconsidering our goals for a product. Later this week, we will stop accepting new questions in Google Answers, the very first project we worked on here. The project started with a rough idea from Larry Page, and a small 4-person team turned it into reality in less than 4 months. For two new grads, it was a crash course in building a scalable product, responding to customer requests, and discovering what questions are on people's minds.

Google Answers taught us exactly how many tyrannosaurs are in a gallon of gasoline, why flies survive a good microwaving, and why you really shouldn't drink water emitted by your air conditioner. Even closer to home, we learned one afternoon that our building might be on fire.

The people who participated in Google Answers -- more than 800 of them over the years -- are a passionate group committed to helping people find the information they need, and we applaud them for sharing their incredible knowledge with everyone who wrote in.

If you have a chance, we encourage you to browse through the questions posted over the last 4+ years. Although we won't be accepting any new questions, the existing Qs and As are available. We'll stop accepting new Answers to questions by the end of the year.

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Amazon Launches Askville

Amazon.com has launched Askville, an online answering service that will compete with Yahoo! Answers, Google Answers and other web-based knowledge exchanges. Overstated explains one of the big differences between Askville and other answering websites.

Probably the most significant change is the flow of the question/answering exchange. In Yahoo! Answers, and elsewhere, answers are shown publicly as they are received; in Askville, answers are hidden to the public until 5 answers have been received. Any discussion or clarification can happen in a public message board attached to the question. After 5 answers have been collected, the group of asker and answerers vote and the whole thing is made public.

You currently need an invite to join Askville.

Posted on November 8, 2006
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Guruza Enters Crowded Expert Market

There is a new question answering service called Guruza. TechCrunch explains Guruza's set-your-price system.

Here's how it works. You ask a question and set a price you'll pay for an answer that satisfies you. Users can scan the list of questions, leave their replies and the person who posed the question decides which if any answer they like best. That person receives the financial reward, transactions performed in PayPal. Guruza takes 20% when you cash out with the money you make answering questions.

How do you know people will pay? Each person who poses a question has the number of questions they've asked and the number of answers they’ve paid on displayed below their name. How simple is that? It's an active little community already, with most but not all questions being about software development.

The best part is AIM, GTalk or Jabber IM notification when users you're watching come online or when some one wants to discuss your question. You get a link to an inline chat sent via your IM client. All the answers and discussions are viewable by users even after the question is closed, so there’s a lot of potential for building a cool public knowledge base here.

If you don't like Guruza there are plenty of competitors: Yahoo Answers, Ask.Metafilter, Google Answers, Oyogi and Qunu. Still more fee-based answer services can be found here.

Posted on July 14, 2006
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Yahoo Answers Announces 10 Millionth Answer

Yahoo has announced, here and here, that its Yahoo Answers service now has over 10 million answers posted by users.

At around 5:30 am on Sunday, May 7th, almost precisely five months since we launched, a user posted the 10 millionth answer on the service. This is a big day for us, and we've decided to celebrate by coming out of beta, and beginning the integration of Answers into our core search services.

Do a search on Yahoo! and you'll see how questions and answers are being surfaced within results. Every day, someone out there has a question, and someone out there knows the answer and gives it for free. Just because helping someone by sharing what you know is a reward in itself.

People can both ask questions and answer questions on Yahoo Answers. You can read a faq to learn more about the service. Yahoo Answers has people like Richard who have answered over 5,000 questions. Yahoo Answers competes with other answer services and information websites like Google Answers and Answers.com.

Posted on May 22, 2006
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GuruNet Launches Answers.com

GuruNet, a provider online reference information, has announced launched Answers.com, a resources providing instant reference answers. GuruNet, through its Answers.com site, said it plans to generate revenues from ads placed alongside its topic entries, rather than from the subscription fees it previously charged for the use of its premium service.

Posted on January 15, 2005
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