[WEB4LIB] google answers

[Patricia F Anderson]

Nick, I have noticed similar trends. For myself, I have a particular
interest in the health questions and their answers, and have been
capturing those. I find it quite doable to go in perhaps 1-2 times a week
and browse all the questions available. The comments on the questions and
answers are often very valuable. So, yes, noticing the same sort of
patterns. -- Patricia Anderson, pfa at umich.edu

On Wed, 22 May 2002, Tomaiuolo, Nicholas (Library) wrote:

> Dear list --
> Concerning Google Answers: I have been looking, off and on, at the questions
> that are asked since the service became available.  First: for such an
> omnipotent a service as Google, they are getting relatively few questions.
> Second, if you'll notice, not many questions are getting a "lock" meaning
> that no one has actually "claimed them" to answer them for the fee.  Third,
> many of the questions have multiple "comments" made on them -- sometimes up
> to a dozen, and the question has been answered by someone offering a comment
> rather than an actual Google "researcher" for the fee.  I don't see the
> service amounting to much, at least as it stands.  Again, because there
> hasn't been a preponderance of queries and, secondly because the question is
> answered for all intents and purposes, in many cases, without anyone
> claiming the fee.  Has anyone else noticed this??
> Nick Tomaiuolo
> Central CT State University
>