# Adieu to Google Answers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274 "2006-11-30T01:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/1 "2006-11-30T01:56:30Z")
Heck, I didn’t even know it existed until now. One of the blogs I read, [Daring Fireball](http://daringfireball.net), had a link to the announcement of [the end](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/adieu-to-google-answers.html) of operations for Google Answers. It seems to have been similar to these boards. I sort of wish I’d known about it _before_ it went away. There’s no explanation about why they’re discontinuing the project, but, who knows, posting about it here might have brought it attention from the many similar-minded people we’ve got here and kept it going longer than it did. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/2 "2006-11-30T02:01:04Z")
Google Answers was my sole source of income for the past four years, so I will probably miss it more than most folks do. It is a pity that Google didn’t promote this remarkable service. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/3 "2006-11-30T04:54:23Z")
Google charged a nominal amount of money for answers, but answers at Yahoo are free. That alone was probably a deciding factor to the public when they had questions. Aside from that, the speculation seems to be that Google wants to focus more on searches rather than answers. Of course, that doesn’t explain the sketch program and their acquisition of YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/4 "2006-11-30T05:02:23Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Google charged a nominal amount of money for answers, but answers at Yahoo are free. [/QUOTE] Dude…have you _been_ to Yahoo Answers? Anyone can ask and answer anything. The dumbest questions imaginable, coupled with even dumber responses. Google Answers had quality out the wazoo. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/5 "2006-11-30T05:22:15Z")
Yahoo Answers is an entirely different kind of thing. Although Google Answers had a “free comments” section where there was occasional yammering by kiddies and trolls, the material posted by official Google Answers Researchers was almost always well-documented and thoroughly researched. GA resembled Yahoo Answers about as much as Pavarotti singing “Vesti la Giubba” resembles William Hung singing “She Bangs.” ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/6 "2006-11-30T16:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Dude…have you _been_ to Yahoo Answers? Anyone can ask and answer anything. The dumbest questions imaginable, coupled with even dumber responses. Google Answers had quality out the wazoo. [/QUOTE] I went there a few times, I stopped when someone who took a dislike to an answer I gave to someone else (which they choose as the best answer), the first someone then got me email address and Yahoo IM and started pestering the feck out of me :eek: I tell ye’s I thought I was weird, then I found the Internet… ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/7 "2006-11-30T16:21:20Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] Google Answers was my sole source of income for the past four years, so I will probably miss it more than most folks do. It is a pity that Google didn’t promote this remarkable service. [/QUOTE] **Pinkfreud** , good luck on finding something else (if you haven’t already). ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adieu-to-google-answers/382274/8 "2006-11-30T17:04:24Z")
I didn’t say Yahoo’s answers were any good, now did I? I was just hoping to imply that if there were two stores side by side, and one advertised low-priced goods of quality and distinction, and the other advertised free crap, there’ll be a line out the door of the free crap store. FWIW, I do my best to avoid all things related to Yahoo.