Google loses a battle … but it may be the beginning of the end for the war
Written by Jeremy Crane (contact - e-mail) -- December 5th, 2006 |
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Last Tuesday, Google quietly announced it had lost a small battle. Google announced on the official Google Blog that they would be shutting down Google Answers. This seemed to pain a few people over at the Googleplex as it was one of the original products to come out of Google Labs. However, there were no sad faces in the next town over in Sunnyvale. In fact it appears Yahoo may have even been celebrating the demise in a not so subtle way. When you look at the numbers it becomes pretty clear why Google got out of the answers business and Yahoo is tooting their own horn. Yahoo Answers launched back in December 2005 and within 3 quick months quickly surpassed Google Answers 1.3 million unique visitors. Within 8 months of launching, Yahoo Answers managed nearly 10 times as many visitors as Google Answers in July. In the most recent month of data, Google Answers attracted less than 450,000 visitors while Yahoo Answers had over 7.6 million.
What about engagement? We all know Yahoo is the largest site on the web, but from a query perspective Google takes the cake by far. So maybe the few people that engage with Google Answers were actually using it more than Yahoo … then again maybe not. Yahoo Answers actually managed to come out of the gate way back in December 2005 with nearly 3 times as many page views for each visitor to the site. Yahoo Answers page views peaked at nearly 18 page views per visitor in July 2006. Google Answers hasn’t gotten much above 2 during the entire period since Yahoo Answers launch
We spend a lot of time on this site and in the blogosphere talking about Google’s successes and even more time talking about the Google-Yahoo rivalry. The Google Answers shutdown should probably be marked in the “L column,” but this may actually be the sign of a much bigger and more important industry wide trend. We may be hearing a lot less Yahoo vs. Google in the coming months/years. Yahoo and Google have been diverging in a number of recent moves. Maybe this means Larry and Sergey can have a cocktail with David and Jerry at the next Stanford reunion.
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December 5th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Hello,
Would be great to include all websites, not only US
Keep your good work, compete is beautiful
thanks,
Vince
December 5th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Does Google Answers have other versions other than English? I believe Yahoo Answers has other languages that serve non-English speaking people. Too bad they are shutting Google Answers, I think it is an interesting concept with the paid answers ;)
December 5th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Google Answers and Yahoo! Answers differ greatly.
Google Answers has a degree of professionalism, while Y! Answers seem much more light hearted.
Paid answer sites still exist. I used to contribute at a site called Just Answer
December 6th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Wasn’t Yahoo! Answers free, while Google Answers cost some nominal fee?
Wouldn’t that explain a lot?
December 9th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Yahoo Answers and Google Answers were clearly different beasts. I think the numbers speak to which execution drew the most public interest. Even if Google Answers had a more professional slant you still need an audience. Yahoo’s execution managed to get that audience and Google’s did not.
December 12th, 2006 at 11:31 am
I really wanted to participate in Google Answers as an “answerer” but the extreme limitations on researchers (not taking any new researchers) left me out in the cold. Adding a comment to a question just doesn’t do much for me. I far prefer the professional aspect of Google answers and hope that it’ll be revived at some point.
Yahoo answers has a little more compelling points system with their leaderboard and all, so that is a bit of a hook for competitive types. Still, cash rewards for your efforts is even better than points and a free sticker advertising Yahoo!
My impression of Yahoo Answers is best summed up by this quote from an internet newsgroup many years ago:
“Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.”
— Gene Spafford
That is, a lot of the traffic on Yahoo answers is just, well, excrement.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
a ref to this post had been added .
check it here http://opairah.blogspot.com/2006/12/google-answers-has-been-retired-no.html
January 29th, 2007 at 6:32 am
Yes, but you are missing a key point. Google China is working on releasing their new product simillar to Baidu zhidao (zhidao=know). So they might have lost a war in U.S., but China?
http://itdeshihou.com
April 4th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I’m actually quite surprised to see Google answer retired. I used to use them alot when I was working as a Java developer. Those researchers always provide in depth answers with comprehensive list of references. I was also curious to see what questions people asked and how much they offered. I kinda agree with John V although is abit harsh to put it that way. Maybe they will come back, who knows…
April 4th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
By the way, is MSN answer out there? I couldn’t find it.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:36 am
yahoo answer is really super, i ask a question on yahoo for a site http://www.myquest.in/myquest/fengshui.html and mention keywords on that site is being promoted that were Feng Shui realeated to astrology, n you not believe i got a super response from yahoo.
really too good.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:38 am
i wanna know that is there any way to make so much popular my site(http://www.myquest.in/myquest/fengshui.html ) that any one search any thing on any search engine n get my site, if it not be possible then can it be possible that suppose if my site that is http://www.myquest.in/myquest/fengshui.html is based on Feng Shui & Astrology, then it come in top 10 in all search engines.
how can i increase its PR.
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December 25th, 2007 at 12:46 am
i think now google closed its QA, i ask a question for http://www.unisoft-technologies.com/resource.htm that why my page is not cache but still waiting for a reply on yahoo.
not so good.
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I’m actually quite surprised to see Google answer retired. I used to use them alot when I was working as a Java developer. Those researchers always provide in depth answers with comprehensive list of references. I was also curious to see what questions people asked and how much they offered. I kinda agree with John V although is abit harsh to put it that way. Maybe they will come back, who knows…
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April 13th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Now some other sites like wiki answers are also very popular