What is Google Answers?

From the very name it can be drawn that this service provided by Google named Google Answers was a means devised by Google to respond to people’s queries on a particular issue by providing necessary, comprehensive and satisfactory answers. This service was launched in 2002. In fact this can be called a re-launch as it was a modified version of the Google Questions and Answers which was launched in 2001 and remained an unsuccessful venture.

Google Answers was not a free endeavor but a paid service whereby customers had to pay an initial enlisting fee which was non-refundable. Then they were to ask questions and on being answered they were to pay the required price for the answer. These questions were answered by researchers who were popularly referred to as Google Answers Researchers or GARs. It allowed the researchers to respond to the client’s queries and a satisfied client could also rate the researchers. These ratings were vital in judging the performance of the researchers as those with lower ratings were at the risk of losing their jobs. Researchers answered questions by logging in to a special page meant for researchers and ‘locking’ the question they were to answer. The answers magnitude varied with the amount paid for the question and the time period required for answering also depended upon those factors. A researcher was allowed to choose only one question at a time.

However, with the passage of time Google Answers was plagued by various shortcomings and criticisms galore. While various researchers complained that Google Answers was confiscating the duties of public librarians, there were also several attacks against it as it was alleged that Google Answers supports plagiarism as well. Such constant discouragement and condemnation of its services affected its prospects and finally on December2006, Google agreed to end the services offered by Google Answers finally.

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Tags: GARs, Google Answers, Google Answers Researchers