有問有答

網路圖書館: 以免費資源建立世界級的個人圖書館

1. 檢

1. Answers - Google

Somewhere in the world is a person who wants ... no, needs! ... some
obscure piece of information.

Perhaps it's the number of Cessna 152s registered in the US; a
transcript from a WWII war crimes trial; or details about the annual
wheat harvest in Iran. Information that they cannot find, but that I
can. The challenge is, how can we find one another? Amazingly, it's
not that hard. The questioner simply states the question, offers a
fee for an answer, and -- if the fee is reasonable -- the deal is
done.

The scene of our little cyber-tete-a-tete is a wonderful web service
known as Google Answers.

Mentioning Google Answers to folks often gets me a quizzical stare.
The 'Google' part is clear enough, but what's this about Google
answering questions? Is that any different than a plain old Google
search?

In truth, Google Answers (GA) is one of Google's lesser-known, and
lesser-used services. And that's a shame really, because it's one
of the great tools available on the internet. GA picks up where
routine internet searching leaves off:
 
* It's not automated -- there are human beings back there answering
  your questions.
 
* It's not instantaneous -- an answer may come in minutes, hours, or
  days.
 
* It's not a massive, loosely formatted data dump with a thousand
  results (most of which aren't relevant to what you want). Instead,
  GA provides highly professional, highly targeted, well-written
  answers that provide just the information needed, and a touch of
  humanity to boot.
 
* Information isn't limited to a Google search, but can come from a
  great many resources.
 
* And unlike conventional searching, GA isn't (gasp!) free. Putting
  all those humans to work will cost you ... but not very much.

Google Answers is more than a Q&A service, however. It's quite an
intriguing web community in its own right. But more of that later on.


How Google Answers Works
========================
 
The fastest way to get an overview of Google Answers is to have a
look:

<http://answers.google.com/answers/>

Like the site says: Ask a question. Set your price. Get your answer.

Ask a question: Pretty much anything is fair game, from business
queries, computer programming help, website design, medical
information ... to advice for the lovelorn. Only a few things are off
limits, like tracking down old boy/girlfriends, the inner workings of
Google, doing your homework for you, or assisting in something
patently illegal.
 
Set your price: offer whatever you think your question is worth,
anywhere from $2 to $200. Researchers prefer the higher-priced
questions, for obvious reasons, but it's actually quite amazing what
some folks receive for their two bucks.

Get your answer: Ask, and ye shall receive ... usually! Not every
question gets answered. Some are simply impossible, and a few, I'm
sorry to say, are incomprehensible. But a well-focused, properly
priced question almost always receives a top-notch answer.
 
 
Quality Control
===============
 
The GA researchers
------------------

There are several hundred of us on contract with Google -- all
carefully screened by the powers-that-Goog to ensure that only
those with the requisite skills in research, writing and customer
service are on the team.

Good research skills are essential. GA isn't simply a matter of
conducting a Google search for customers too lazy to do it on their
own. Sometimes a search takes a sophisticated understanding of how
best to target results. Here's a recent Google search of mine that was
elaborately constructed, using the "OR" feature and the number range
feature and the wildcard asterisk, all inside the exact phrase (quote
marks) feature: [ "10..1000 most * companies OR corporations OR
brands" ] -- plug it into a Google search to see the sort of nicely-
targeted results it produces.

Many questions are answered without using Google at all. Researchers
may rely on their own expertise -- I'm a microbiologist, for instance
-- and on a wealth of resources, both online and offline. I'm
fortunate to have access to Lexis-Nexis, Proquest, Factiva, EBSCO,
JSTOR, and a host of other databases that can be brought to bear in
researching a question.

And all the cyber-poking around we do leads us to discover a lot of
amazing resources available to everyone, but tucked away in odd
corners of the web, like the EU patent database that also includes
patents from the US and Japan (how cool is that?), and goes back to
the 1800's <http://digbig.com/4dpge>.

Still, what assurance does a customer have that they will get a
satisfactory answer? Easy. If you don't like your answer, you don't
pay for it (other than a fifty cents listing fee). That simple rule
keeps the researchers very focused on providing quality answers.
Customers can also rate an answer from one to five stars, and, trust
me, no one enjoys getting anything less than a five star rating.
Still, you can't please everyone, all the time, as you can see by one
of the rare answers of mine (on clinical trials) that did get
rejected <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=346564>.

For the most part, though, ratings are high, rejections are rare, and
our clients seem quite satisfied. Well they should be. Some of the
work provided at Google Answers would easily cost thousands of dollars
if it came from a professional marketing research firm, web site
customization service, computer programmer or private investigator.
Take a look, for instance, at this customized research on the
thermoplastics market done under a tight deadline at a
bargain-basement price
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=519557>.
 
In a sense, this is GA at its most powerful, and most valuable -- as a
professional quality research tool for augmenting in-house research
staff. I don't think there is currently any service other than GA that
could have provided such excellent work at such a minimal price.

 
Questions, Questions, Questions
===============================
 
It's almost impossible to characterize just what gets asked at GA; the
questions are all over the map, both literally (Nigerian towns in the
1700s), cybernetically (visualizing a map of the internet) and
metaphorically (find me a map to salvation). But there are certain
themes that do tend to repeat over and over, such as:
 
* Help me come up with a great name for my company
 
* How do I get rid of my search history (I don't want my mom seeing
  where I've been)
 
* I have a great idea for a toy/movie/TV show/website/invention ...
  how can I get somebody to pay me for it?
 
* I want the private cell phone number of Bill Gates, George Bush,
  Britney Spears ...
 
* How can I get my website to show up as #1 on a Google search
  (sorry...this one's off limits)
 
* What is my domain name/grandma's tea set/painting-in-the-attic worth
  (general answer: probably not as much as you think)
 
* Please give me amazingly clever ideas for -- or completely plan --
  my vacation/business trip/wedding/birthday party/honeymoon
 
* Give me the name and contact for every company in China/the
  US/Europe/the world that makes toys/handbags/chemicals/cement, etc.

Not all the questions get answered, of course. The last one, in
particular, belongs to the category of "every" questions, where a
customer wants every single one of a particular thing. Once we explain
that there may be a million such things, and can't assure that every
single one is listed, we can usually come to some reasonable
alternative for the client.

Then there are the questions that just make you sit back and wonder,
where the heck did **that** come from:
 
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=520528>
Subject: Hunter Gatherer Diet

Did hunter-gatherer humans (those eating diets that are pre
cultivation/domestication) eat the intestines and/or the intestinal
contents of their animal prey, and if so, what parts did they eat
(e.g. rumen, caecum, colon).
 
At last check, the question hadn't yet been answered.

 
A few questions that I know in my heart should be answerable have thus
far eluded the research team. Have a look, and if you have any leads
for getting these answered, drop me a line (or go public, and post a
comment at GA):

<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=516261>
Poor guy is looking for a very particular stuffed bunny.
 
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=518577>
Patient looking for a source of a perfectly legal but hard to find
medication.

<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=523867>
Spreadsheet of Members of the S&P 500 1950-1975

(These questions may be expired by the time this article is in print,
but don't let that stop you).

And most researchers seem to have a personal favorite question, but I
actually had a hard time coming up with mine. This one about an
(apparently) bogus ambassador comes close, though:

<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=136802>
US Ambassador-at-Large Elena Lilly 
 
  
The Google Answers Community
============================
 
Considering that I've never met any of my employers or customers face-
to-face -- and have only had that pleasure with three of my fellow
researchers -- there's quite a weird, wonderful, close-knit,
cantankerous community of GA aficionados. It's not only the
researchers and customers who make it so. There is also the 'peanut
gallery' of about a score of regular commenters (did I mention GA has
a comments section where anyone can post), who offer their wisdom,
information, wisecracks, insults and occasional idiocy. The all-time
GA record for the question with the most comments was posted by a
favorite peanut gallery regular, and can be seen at:
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=161982>
 
The researchers themselves have a number of cyberforums where we get
together and trade professional resources, commiserate, share some
news, or whine (Wah! You stole my question!). The overall feel is one
of enormous camaraderie and pride. We all love being GA researchers,
and part of the amazing Google phenomenon. It's a mixed group of folk
from all over the world: scientists, mathematicians, programmers, web-
designers and SEO specialists, playwrights, private investigators, law
enforcement types, pilots, and an assortment of Renaissance
researchers who are good at, and knowledgeable about, almost
everything. The diversity is an important attribute, as some questions
that have me absolutely stumped, can be answered by someone else with
the just the right set of skills.
 
As a researcher for Google Answers, I feel I have the best job in the
world. It's interesting, rewarding, infinitely varied, perfectly
flexible. I work when, where, and as often as I want to, the people I
work with are uniformly wonderful, and my clients are a diverse and
fascinating group.
 
Now ... if only I could make a living!

> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

David Sarokin lives in Washington DC with his wife and two
rambunctious kids, and spends far too much time on the internet. He
is an environmentalist, a lapsed microbiologist, and has a day job
with the federal government. In addition to his work with Google
Answers, he is also President and Chief Executive Janitor of Sarokin
Consulting, doing freelance research and consulting on due diligence,
company background studies, family histories, legal and regulatory
matters, data gathering, prior art, web-based information extraction,
and a host of other topics. He's always happy to discuss potential
projects, and would love the opportunity to write more about GA. You
can reach him at .