Comments on: Amazon launches answers site

By: Amazon Launches Askville

Amazon Launches Askville — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:45:58 +0000

[...] Amazon is apparently inviting select customers to join a new community it is calling Askville, according to overstated. [...]

By: thedude

thedude — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 06:31:32 +0000

When I worked at Yahoo, I learned a lot about how search works. One of the things that launched while I was there was Yahoo Answers, initally, the name was going to be something else.

Amazon has to get some credit for their name, Askville – at least it’s better than MSN QnA (yuck).

Oh, and did I mention I help manage FunAdvice.com, which has been around since March, 2003 – longer than Yedda (cough) whole stole some of the features off our site

By: anjan bacchu

anjan bacchu — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:09:42 +0000

hi there,

nice post.

“so look for one on a weblog near you”
instead of saying so, can you pass links ?

http://www.bloglines.com/search?q=askville+invitation&ql=en&s=f&pop=l&news=m

http://www.technorati.com/search/askville%20invite

BR,
~A

By: Naik’s News » NowNow & Askville from Amazon

Naik’s News » NowNow & Askville from Amazon — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:01:05 +0000

[...] Askville is a web based service that allows users to ask and answer each other questions. Users can earn points within the system and apparently they can be redeemed on a forthcoming site Questville. This service is very similar to Naver’s Knowledge Search, Wondir, Yahoo! Answers and Live QnA. Carmeron Marlow of Yahoo! has a detailed post discussing his experiences as a Beta tester. [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:44:55 +0000

Ask Meta is indeed a great example of this at work. It’s also an example of a user community that is relatively high brow, self-policing, and altruistic. I wonder if it plays well in the world at large. Another model is the one developing over at http://www.itsecurity.com/expert/ – it’s powered by a network of experts who are designated as such by the editor of the site. Anyone can answer a question and all answers are posted, but expert answers are marked as such. Nothing terribly automated, but the answers are powerful and in many cases authoritative (full disclosure: I am affiliated with ITsecurity).

By: Amazon Gets into ‘Social Search’ « Screenwerk

Amazon Gets into ‘Social Search’ « Screenwerk — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 13:46:03 +0000

[...] LiveSide blogs about a new “invite only” beta search tool/service that reportedly will compete with Yahoo! Answers and Microsoft QnA: Askville. Yahoo! Research scientist Cameron Marlow blogs more about particulars of the service (including its “incentive” [virtual currency] system) and it’s relationship to another, yet-to-launch site (formerly “Questville” and now “NowNow“). [...]

By: Dirty Carl » Blog Archive » Amazon launches Askville answers community

Dirty Carl » Blog Archive » Amazon launches Askville answers community — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 04:40:49 +0000

[...] Original post by cashbagg [...]

By: Another Answers site: Askville, this time its Amazon at Search Engine War - Google, Yahoo!, MSN & Other Search Engine NEWS

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:32:35 +0000

[...] Askville was brought into light by overstated. Probably the most significant change is the flow of the question/answering exchange. In Yahoo! Answers, and elsewhere, answers are shown publicly as they are received; in Askville, answers are hidden to the public until 5 answers have been received. Any discussion or clarification can happen in a public message board attached to the question. After 5 answers have been collected, the group of asker and answerers vote and the whole thing is made public. [...]

By: Yaniv

Yaniv — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:06:44 +0000

I agree, AskMetaFilter is an amazing community. I guess the $5 registration fee, while low, serves as an effective barrier increasing the signal to noise ratio in a positive way.

I’d love to hear what you folks think of what we did at Yedda (http://yedda.com).

One of our early design decisions was NOT to implement a points system or rewarding people just for answering a question, as it was clear to us that this would result in low value for the people who ask questions. We believe that there are plenty of other incentives for people to share their knowledge. So far it seems to be working pretty well.

Once you sign up to Yedda (hmm… free of course), you’d find that you can ask as many questions as you need to, and answer any question to which you feel you can contribute.
But instead of hunting down questions, you will probably find it easier to have the Yedda Active Distribution invite you directly to the questions that fall within your areas of knowledge and interests.

It’s interesting to note that Amazon added to Askville automatic tag suggestions for questions – a capability originally pioneered by Yedda.

So, between Yahoo Answers, Amazon Askville, Microsoft QnA, AskMetaFilter and Yedda, I think that there is a good chance you will find an answer to any question you might have

By: cameron

cameron — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:11:31 +0000

I think it’s completely relevant. AskMetafilter provides some of the best answers on the web, and this fact isn’t really contestable. Also a similar effect has occurred at a larger scale in Asia, Korea and Taiwan specifically. Whether or not it actually scales here in America and elsewhere is another question.