Got A Question? Yahoo Can Answer It!

Yahoo! has recently released Yahoo! Answers. It is very similar to Google Answers, but there are many differences. For starters: it's free!

Google Answers costs you $2.50 minimum per questions and guarantees that you will get one of its 500 researchers to answer to your question within 24 hours.

Yahoo! Answers is free and anyone can post a question or answer one. Why do I think this could be better than Google?

First, it's free. Secondly, just because you are not a "researcher" doesn't mean that you can't answer a question about something you know well.

I found the website to be very well designed and straightforward.

Simply sign into your Yahoo! account (create one first if you don't have one), then type your question in the text box.

Pretty soon someone will answer it. Your question remains open for two weeks and then it is closed. I asked a question and got a response within minutes.

Now here is what's neat. Yahoo! has set up a cool point system.

After signing up you instantly get 100 points. Each time you choose the best answer to your question you get 5 points. Put your answers to a vote and you get another 5 points.

You get one point for logging on, voting for an answer, or rating a best answer.

If you are rated as having the best answer to a question, you get 10 points.

The more points you have the higher your level (1-7). Right now the rewards aren't that great in my opinion (A super-special Yahoo! Answers thank you?? What does that mean?)

However all free things do have limits.

From levels 1-4 you get your level number * 10 (i.e. level 1 = 10) answers, questions, ratings.

Levels 5-7 have unlimited numbers of questions, answers and ratings.

The point system is interesting but I think the most important part is that Yahoo! Answers allows people to maximize what they know and help those who have that burning question.

It also allows you to search for answer to your question which may have already been asked.

I definitely like it. Is it better than Google? I think it just might be.

Visit Yahoo! Answers at http://answers.yahoo.com.

Tech Guru Rates This 4.5 out of 5

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Google.