There is a message board out there that charges a fee to view its answers. You see the OP fine, but all of the responses are blocked out.
It seems like it has a vast library of questions posed, and many times not only does it have the exact issue I’ve been searching for, but also it’s the only place that does.
But I’m leery of a place that consistently ranks so high on Google’s rankings, and leery of subscribing without having a sense of whether or not the answers are generally worth it. Frankly, I’m also leery of how, well, attuned its posts are to what I’m searching on. Leeeeeeerrrry!
I know posters pick apart the credibility of many sites here, but most of those are sites with some agenda (e.g., political, theological, environmental). I also know that doing anything that could be construed as board war is a Very Bad Idea. So before posting, I thought it polite and prudent to ask for permission first.
Thanks,
Rhythm
It’s in the basic search output of Google – I thought their (Google’s) rankings were based on popularity and relevance, and any paid advertising was off to the side or above. Was I wrong? Has Google changed?
There are malware programs that will interfere with Google results - interjecting its own results among the valid ones. I cannot, however, remember the name of the specific one I am thinking of. However, in the case that I am thinking of, it was usually pretty obvious that they were not legitimate.
Google’s main results still only work via relevance and popularity. Of course, there’s an entire industry that revolves around boosting said relevance and popularity. But it is still not possible to pay Google to rank a site more highly in the actual search result listings.
ETA: There is a site that I used to turn to for answers on certain specialized subjects. It used to be free to access the advice of experts, but now you can only see the question and have to pay to see the answers. When I used that particular site, it was a legitimate resource. Disappointed that they went pay, really.
If you’re talking about www.experts-exchange.com, trying clicking the “Cached” link in your Google search results.
This is an odd place to be in … I don’t want to comment on the place itself–not to be coy, but since the question I posted was whether or not it’s OK to name it in the first place, I think doing so without waiting for an ‘official’ answer would be fairly rude.
Basically, I want to post to GQ or IMHO (there’s another question) something like “Boy the SMDB sure looks great, but they want me to pay to read their posts. Does anyone know if the answers they give are generally worth the membership fee?” Is that Kosher on these boards?
Right, I guess I just kind of skimmed your OP and didn’t understand what you were really asking. My apologies.
I will await the answer from TPTB, and if do you end up posting the “real” question about the message board in GQ/IMHO/wherever, and it does happen to be the message board I mentioned, I will comment there.
I would think you could pose the question in GQ and get an answer. Or in IMHO; actually that might be more appropriate, because you’re giving your opinion, that’s what it is, your opinion.
You’re not advertising the site, you’re not shilling for it, you’re asking a question and you’re putting that question to exactly the kind of people that might use a site like that, so yes, it’s appropriate.
Thanks Tuba!
Oh, and by the way, it is experts-exchange.com, but as I said, I thought it unseemly to come out and say so in the same thread I was asking if it was ok to do so. I even edited down my OP to not be so specific about tech questions and the like.
I’m off to post it now… I’m leaning a wee bit toward GQ (by including both, I hope Tuba meant to suggest a forum, not officially direct me) since I’m asking about the content, credibility, and accuracy of GQ-like questions, not whether the underlying opinions are worth it. May the Mods forgive me if I’m wrong…
I should have posted first, then came here to reply – I wasn’t able to edit after waiting to post again.
Here is the thread: Does experts-exchange give accurate answers?