New Google Beta, Answers.Google.Com

[gprice]

 From The Virtual Acquisition Shelf and News Desk...

Google Answers
https://answers.google.com/answers/main

What, a week almost went by and nothing new from Google. (:
-
I found most of the following info via the faq.

Google has started a fee-based answer service. More of an "answer 
brokerage" that Google oversees. Ask a question and have a Google 
Researcher bid to supply you with an answer. How does you became a Google 
Researcher? First, write a paragraph on why you want to be a researcher. 
Then, pass a test by answering 5 sample questions. Google editors will also 
"spot-check" answers and if they aren't up to standards the question will 
be put back into the system. A user feedback system will also be 
incorporated to rate Researchers. The faq states, "The Researcher will be 
an expert at locating hard to find information on the web". What about all 
of the info not on the web? Finally, some Researchers will be "experts in 
their fields."

Answers
According to the faq both questions and answers will be publicly viewable 
on the web. Anyone who has registered for the service can comment on any 
question or answer but the actual "answer" can only come from an approved 
Google Researcher. If a registered user answers your question to your 
satisfaction for free you can cancel your query. If the question is 
answered by a researcher you can also ask him/her for a "clarification". If 
the answer is not to your satisfaction, you can choose to apply for a refund.
Fees?
First, a non-refundable $0.50 fee to list the question. Then the amount you 
are willing to pay. The minimum is $4 and the max is $50.00. From the faq, 
"The more research required to find an answer, the more you should offer. 
Three-quarters of your research fee goes directly to the Researcher who 
answers your question; the other 25 percent is used by Google to support 
the service. Setting a price too low to compensate for the time required 
may result in your question not receiving an answer. The more you are 
willing to pay, the more likely your question is to get answered quickly."

Here's a question for the library community, will the fee-based resources 
that many public libraries make available see a rapid increase in usage? 
Will virtual reference desk services be flooded with questions from Google 
Researcher's who can then sell the answer or at least a portion of it on 
Google? Several services similar to Google Answers have come and gone. The 
fact that Google is doing it? What do you think will happen? For many 
people RESEARCH=Google.


cheers,
gary




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Gary D. Price, MLIS
Librarian
Gary Price Library Research and Internet Consulting
gprice at gwu.edu