Editing Google Answers

{{short description|Former online knowledge market by Google}}

{{Infobox website
|name             = Google Answers
|logo             = Google Answers logo.png
|logo_size        = 250px
|caption          =
|url              = {{URL|http://answers.google.com/answers/|answers.google.com}}
|commercial       = Yes
|type             = [[Knowledge market]]<br>[[Library reference desk|Reference desk]]
|language         = [[English language|English]]
|registration     = Yes
|owner            = [[Google]]
|author           = 
|launch_date      = {{start date and age|2002|4|18}}
|current_status   = Online, and read only since December 2006
}}

'''Google Answers''' was an online [[knowledge market]] offered by [[Google]], active from April 2002 until December 2006.

== History ==
Google Answers' predecessor was Google Questions and Answers, which was launched in June 2001. This service involved Google staffers answering questions by e-mail for a flat fee (US$3.00). It was fully functional for about 24 hours, after which it was shut down, possibly due to excessive demand and the tough competition that [[Yahoo!]] set in place.<ref name = "pred">{{cite journal
| first =Jessamyn
| last =West
| date =October 1, 2002
| title =Information for sale: my experience with Google Answers
| website =infotoday.com
| url =http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/west.htm
| access-date =November 21, 2006
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110408183844/http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/west.htm
| archive-date =April 8, 2011
| url-status =live
}}</ref>

Google Answers was launched in April 2002. A month later, a search feature was added.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineshowdown.com/2002/05/google_answers_searchable/|title=Google Answers Searchable|website=Searchengineshowdown.com|date=31 May 2002|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701175729/http://searchengineshowdown.com/2002/05/google_answers_searchable/|archive-date=1 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Google Answers came out of beta in May 2003. It received more than 100 question postings per day when the service ended in December 2006. According to [[Danny Sullivan (technologist)|Danny Sullivan]] of Searchenginewatch, Google Answers was not solid enough to compete against [[Yahoo! Answers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2548611/google-questions-need-for-google-answers.html|title=Google questions need for Google Answers|website=Computerworld.com|date=29 November 2006|author=James Niccolai|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410214609/https://www.computerworld.com/article/2548611/google-questions-need-for-google-answers.html|archive-date=10 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late November 2006, Google reported that it planned to permanently shut down the service (except for the Hong Kong and Arabic versions). No new questions were accepted after November 30, 2006, and no new answers were accepted after December 31, 2006. It was fully closed by late December 2006, although its archives remain available.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/adieu-to-google-answers.html |title=Official Google blog post announcing the closure |publisher=googleblog.blogspot.com |access-date=2019-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407223000/https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/adieu-to-google-answers.html |archive-date=2019-04-07 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Google opened related sites, one in [[Russia]] also called Google Questions and Answers in 2007, and one in [[China]] called Tianya Answers, in reference to [[Tianya Club|its Chinese partner site]].  In September 2009, Google launched an [[Arabic language|Arabic]] version called Google Egabat or Google Ejabat (إجابات Google), meaning ''Google Answers''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.startuparabia.com/2009/09/google-launches-egabat-new-arabic-questions-answers-service/ |title=startuparabia.com |date=8 September 2009 |access-date=2009-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914045941/http://www.startuparabia.com/2009/09/google-launches-egabat-new-arabic-questions-answers-service/ |archive-date=2009-09-14 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in late May 2014, this service was announced to be read-only starting from 23 June 2014.<ref>[http://ejabat.google.com/ejabat/ Ejabat Google] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626135117/http://ejabat.google.com/ejabat/ |date=2014-06-26 }} - main page shows a site notice about service change to read-only.</ref>

In an email sent to registered researchers announcing the closure, Google wrote:

<blockquote>We considered many factors in reaching this difficult decision, and ultimately decided that the Answers community's limited size and other product considerations made it more effective for us to focus our efforts on other ways to help our users find information.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metafilter.com/56634/Google-loses-one-battle-to-the-competition |title=Google loses one battle to the competition |publisher=metafilter.com |access-date=2007-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605232615/http://www.metafilter.com/56634/Google-loses-one-battle-to-the-competition |archive-date=2011-06-05 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

== Description ==
=== Process ===
Google Answers was designed as an extension to the conventional search: rather than doing the search themselves, users would pay someone else to do the search. Anyone could ask questions, offer a price for an answer, and researchers, who were called Google Answers Researchers or GARs, answered them. Researchers were not Google employees, but contractors that were required to complete an application process to be approved to answer for the site. They were limited in number (according to Google, there were more than 500 Researchers; in practice, there were fewer active Researchers). The application process tested their research and communication abilities.

Researchers with low ratings could be fired, a policy which encouraged eloquence and accuracy. Also, Google stated that people who commented might be selected to become Researchers, therefore inspiring high-quality comments. For a Researcher, a question was answered by logging into a special researchers page and then "locking" a question they wanted to answer. This act of "locking" claimed the question for that researcher. Questions worth less than $100 could be locked for up to four hours, and questions worth more than $100 could be locked up to eight hours at a time in order to be properly answered. A Researcher could only lock one question at a time.{{Citation needed|date=July 2014}}

Asker-accepted answers cost $2 to $200. Google retained 25% of the researcher's reward and a 50-cent fee per question. In addition to the researcher's fees, a client who was satisfied with the answer could also leave a tip of up to $100.

In Google Search, when a user would put "why?" at the end of a search query, Google would show a link to Google Answers where the answer could be provided for a fee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xyweb.net/news_view-asp-id_287/|title=Google最新搜索技巧|website=Xyweb.net|language=zh|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501191907/http://www.xyweb.net/news_view-asp-id_287/|archive-date=1 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Question structure ===

* The client's question, to which the Researcher could respond with a request for clarification if any part of a question was unclear.
* The answer remained empty if the question had not yet been answered and only a Researcher could post an answer. Any Researcher could answer any question, although askers could specifically request a certain Researcher in the title or body of their question. After the answer was posted, the client could communicate with the Researcher to ask for clarification of the answer; the client could also rate the answer on a one- to five-star system and tip the Researcher for a job well done.
* The comment section provided an area where any registered user, Researchers and non-Researchers alike, could comment on the question. Some questions were "answered" in comments before a Researcher could answer. Naturally, this section, too, could be left empty, if no comments had been posted.

The pages of Google Answers' website ranked extremely well in Google's search results, and so the commenting system was widely exploited by the SEO community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seo-article.com/seo-articles/how-to-get-a-top-google-ranking.htm|title=A Back Road Loophole For Getting a -Top Google Ranking|website=Seo-article.com|date=2004|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325212908/http://www.seo-article.com/seo-articles/how-to-get-a-top-google-ranking.htm|archive-date=25 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Rules ===
Google's policies prohibited answering questions that would obviously lead to or contain:

* [[Copyright]] infringement and [[privacy]] violations.
* [[Plagiarism]] in homework assignments.
* Discussion of Google Answers itself, or about Google policies and mechanisms ([[PageRank]], for example).
* Links to [[Internet pornography|adult oriented sites]].
* Promotion of illegal activities.

== Criticism ==
Some [[library|librarians]] have criticized Google Answers as a service selling services that are part of the tasks of public librarians (in the [[United States]]).  The most vocal of these critics was former Google Answers Researcher [[Jessamyn West (librarian)|Jessamyn West]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/west.htm |title=Information for Sale: My Experience With Google Answers |publisher=infotoday.com |access-date=2006-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408183844/http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct02/west.htm |archive-date=2011-04-08 |url-status=live }}</ref> whose contract was terminated after she violated the site's terms of service by publishing an article about her experience as a Google Answers Researcher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infotoday.com/SEARCHER/jan03/west.shtml |title=Google Answers Back Or How to Become an Ex-"Google Answers" Researcher |publisher=infotoday.com |access-date=2006-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229050008/http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jan03/west.shtml |archive-date=2010-12-29 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other reference librarians claimed that the service was not detrimental to libraries, but simply operated in parallel to them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=329159 |title=Google Answers: How does Google affect reference librarians? |access-date=2006-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018085204/http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=329159 |archive-date=2011-10-18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other critics claimed that the service encourages [[plagiarism]]. The official Google Answers policy was to remove questions that appeared to be school assignments. However, some journalists expressed concerns that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between a "legitimate" question and a homework assignment, especially in regard to sciences and programming.

==See also==
* [[Comparison of Q&A sites]]
* [[Knowledge market]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [http://answers.google.com/answers/ Google Answers]
* Benjamin Edelman, [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/pubs/googleanswers-011404.pdf Earnings and Ratings at Google Answers], Harvard.edu
* Tobias Regner, [http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp115.pdf Why Voluntary Contributions? Google Answers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128161542/http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp115.pdf |date=2007-11-28 }}, CMPO Working Paper Series No. 05/115
* [[Sheizaf Rafaeli]], Daphne R. Raban, Gilad Ravid, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081119215706/http://jellis.net/research/group2005/papers/RafaeliRabanRavidGoogleAnswersGroup05.pdf Social and Economic Incentives in Google Answers]
* [[Wikipedia:Google statistics#Google Answers using Wikipedia|Google Answers using Wikipedia (2003-2005)]]

{{Google LLC}}

[[Category:Defunct websites|Answers]]
[[Category:Discontinued Google services|Answers]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2002]]
[[Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Question-and-answer websites]]