web watch 2006 - yahoo! has some answers
Note: This item was originally posted in January 2006.
Yahoo! recently caused a ripple in the search engine news world when a Bloomberg News article made the wires suggesting the also-ran search engine was throwing in the towel in it's race with Google. Apparently it's not so -- at least according to a post on the Yahoo! Search Engine blog. But that's yesterday's news.
Quietly debuted on the "We're number two - we try harder" site is an overhaul of their long-running feature Ask Yahoo!
Yahoo! Answers seems to be a response to the wave of user-content driven Web 2.0 info-culture sweeping the net. And they're having their birthing pangs as recorded on their Yahoo! Answers Team blog.
So, you ask, what questions does the world want Yahoo! to answer? Here's a recent sample:
Is killing people really that bad?
At a restaurant, when you drop food on the floor, is the proper etiquette to pick it up or just let it be?
Why are babies fat and cute?
The Big Bang? Who did it?
... and ...
Do they have girl’s bathrooms in gay bars?
Visitors can post answers and then vote on them. The question we'd like to ask Yahoo! is ... why?
December 2006 update: File under "Anything You Can Do We Can Do Better."
After starting in April 2002, Yahoo!'s nemesis bid Adieu to Google Answers, a fact cheerfully announced on the Yahoo! Answers Team blog.
Now, if you're curious to see if the quality of questions has improved after a year, check Yahoo!'s The Best of Answers 2006.
Here's a sample:
Do journalism and politics mix?
How do I find a cockatiel that was accidentally lost outside?
How do I get my towels fluffy again?
What is the best way to clean your cellphone?