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Yahoo Pinching Google's researchers?

dpneal [PersonRank 10]

Thursday, November 30, 2006
17 years ago4,670 views

Now this is just cheeky! Yahoo are trying to recruit the old Googel Answers Researchers. Google Answers isn't even cold yet.
http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000385.html

Haochi [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

I thought Yahoo! Answers is community-driven... Do they need experts?

Any ways, there's a petition going on... "Keep Google Answers Alive".
http://petitiononline.com/ganswers

I think that Google hasn't talk with the GA Researchers about shutting down GA before the announcement. Check out some of their comments here: http://googlified.com/2006keep-google-answers-alive-petition

Tony Ruscoe [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

IMHO there's no point is trying to make Google "keep Google Answers Alive" because they've probably already got something much better in the pipeline that will be replacing it.

I think it's also fair to say that a lot of the researchers at Google Answers did it because they needed the money, so why would they start answering questions at Yahoo Answers unless Yahoo start paying them?

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Whether Google Answers Researchers did it for the money or for the intellectual stimulation, Yahoo Answers doesn't have a lot to offer them.

Haochi, you are correct that researchers received no advance warning (well actually we received an email just an hour or two before the official announcement). In fact for most of the past year, as the software crumbled, we were continually assured that they were working as fast as they could fixing it up. The repairs never came.

Email notifications (a vital part of the answer-and-clarification process) haven't worked for about a year.

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

> Email notifications (a vital part of the answer-
>and-clarification process) haven't worked for about a year.

And I figured I was the only one with this problem!

Because I as customer (asking questions) never received any emails, so I figured there were no answers or comments to what I asked. I did check sometimes and was surprised when indeed a question had been answered, or a request for clarification had been made.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

You can see how things were going downhill, Philipp.

I emailed the GA Admins asking for permission to scape a small number of pages on the site in order to generate notifications myself (until they fixed the problem). They refused permission, citing the GA Terms of Service. That's ludicrous, of course, because any company is allowed to vary or waive its own terms of service.

It would have been a day or two's programming work, no more.

Katinka Hesselink [PersonRank 2]

17 years ago #

The google-answers problems you all report (after the fact) sound to me like the problems DMOZ is having right now. Not much communication, technical problems that don't get solved and finally shut down (though that last part hasn't officially happened yet for DMOZ).

The pay at google answers didn't sound like much, but the fact that yahoo does not pay people at all will probably keep the people that were active at google answers away. It's a bit like the problem of getting scientists involved in wikipedia: will only happen when the scientists start taking the resource seriously. So when yahoo answers starts to be taken seriously enough – then perhaps some of the google-answers people will move?

Who knows. Interesting business, this online stuff. It all moves so fast.

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

From my perspective Google Answers payment was OK if you live in a country where the dollar is worth more. E.g. $600/ month is a good pay in Malaysia. In Germany, you wouldn't be able to pay the rent with that kind of money.

Haochi [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Do you have to work full-time? Otherwise, $300 – 600 would be a pretty good addition to the income.

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

$600 (as an example) was about full-time watching of the site, but not full-time working with it. You know, 90% you just had to watch the site waiting for a new answer, so that you'd be able to lock it quickly (and then spend an hour or two working on it)... because Google didn't send enough customers. But at any time of the day, you had to be prepared to invest 2 hours or so to answer that question you got hold of. But of course, it all depends on question volume and pricing.

Easterangel [PersonRank 1]

17 years ago #

Just like what Philipp mentioned the satisfaction of the pay depends on your location.

I've been able to send my daughter to good schools these past four years. Live a modest lifestyle and even had some vacations. Was also able to help some people with the income.

I am thankful to God for leading me to Google Answers and able to work like this for four years.

Tadeusz Szewczyk [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

I am an expert at Lycos iQ Germany for free. I do it out of my Web 0.0 to Web x.0 altruism just as if it was a forum. It's German only and it's far better than the German version of Yahoo! Answers which offers you ridiculously amateurish replies.

So it's not only about the pay, it's also about the how it is done. I guess DMOZ will die next. One day they probably discontinue Google Search iin favor of Google Ads.

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