Yahoo Answers

File:Ask_Yahoo!.png

The website Yahoo! was officially incorporated on March 2, 1995, and was created by Jerry Yang and David Filo. The website began as a search directory for various websites, and soon grew into an established Internet resource that featured the "Yahoo! Answers" platform.{{cite web|last1=Mccullough|first1=Brian|url=http://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2015/03/on-the-20th-anniversary-the-history-of-yahoos-founding/|publisher=Internet History Podcast|title=On the 20th Anniversary – The History of Yahoo's Founding}} Yahoo! Answers was launched in mid-2005 for internal alpha testing by Director of Engineering Ofer Shaked.{{cite web |url=http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051207-220118 |title=The Birth of Yahoo Answers |website=blog.searchenginewatch.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207182322/http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051207-220118 |archive-date=7 February 2006 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|date=December 7, 2005|title=SiliconBeat: Yahoo Answers|url=http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2005/12/07/yahoo_answers.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211100358/http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2005/12/07/yahoo_answers.html|archive-date=11 December 2005|access-date=April 1, 2016|work=SiliconBeat}}{{cite web|date=June 28, 2005|title=Questions – Yahoo Answers – First/oldest Y!A account – Director of Engineering, Ofer Shaked's Yahoo! Answers account, created on June 28, 2005|url=https://answers.yahoo.com/activity/questions?show=AA00000101|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120232102/https://answers.yahoo.com/activity/questions?show=AA00000101|archive-date=20 January 2020|access-date=March 29, 2016|work=Yahoo! Answers}} The beta version Yahoo! Answers was launched to the general public on December 8, 2005{{cite web|url=http://news.com.com/Yahoo+launches+Q38A+service/2110-1038_3-5986483.html |title=Yahoo launches Q&A service – CNET News.com |work=CNET |date=December 7, 2005 |access-date=February 28, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210033939/http://news.com.com/Yahoo+launches+Q38A+service/2110-1038_3-5986483.html |archive-date=December 10, 2005}}{{cite web |url=http://answers.yahoo.com/ |title=Yahoo! Answers – Home on December 10, 2005 |work=Wayback Machine |date=December 10, 2005 |access-date=February 28, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210025730/http://answers.yahoo.com/ |archive-date=December 10, 2005}} and was available until May 14, 2006. Yahoo! Answers was finally made available for general availability on May 15, 2006.{{cite web|url=https://investor.yahoo.net/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=196681|title=Yahoo – Yahoo! Search Leverages Human Knowledge From Yahoo! Answers to Improve Web Search; Yahoo! Answers Surpasses 10 Million Answers to Everyday Questions From Real People|work=Yahoo! Investor|date=May 15, 2006|access-date=February 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306124253/https://investor.yahoo.net/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=196681|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url-status=dead}}

Yahoo! Answers was created to replace Ask Yahoo!, Yahoo!'s former Q&A platform which was discontinued in March 2006.{{cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Barry|title=Yahoo Answers Birthday: One Year Old|url=http://searchengineland.com/yahoo-answers-birthday-one-year-old-10039|publisher=Search Engine Land|access-date=August 22, 2012|date=December 13, 2006}} The site gave members the chance to earn points as a way to encourage participation and was based on Naver's Knowledge iN.

Yahoo! Answers was available in 12 languages, with several Asian language versions operating a different platform which allows for non-Latin characters. An Arabic language Q&A platform called Seen Jeem was available through the Yahoo! subsidiary Maktoob until 2010, and the Chinese language version Yahoo! Knowledge was available until 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://hk.help.yahoo.com/kb/.html|title=知識+ 已關閉 | Yahoo 服務中心 - SLN35642|website=hk.help.yahoo.com}} The platform is known as {{nihongo|Yahoo! Chiebukuro|Yahoo!知恵袋}} in Japan.{{cite web|url=http://chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp|title=Yahoo! Chiebukuro Website|access-date=August 22, 2012}}

On December 8, 2016, Yahoo! released an app for the platform called Yahoo! Answers Now (formally known as Yahoo! Hive) for iOS and Android.{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yahoo-answers-now/id1111749046?mt=8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212003322/https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yahoo-answers-now/id1111749046?mt=8|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 12, 2016|title=Yahoo Answers Now on the App Store|work=iTunes|access-date=December 12, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yahoo.mobile.android.heartbeat&hl=en|title=Yahoo Answers Now – Android Apps on Google Play|work=Google Play|access-date=December 12, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/29/yahoo-answers-now-io-app/|title=Yahoo Answers Now is a standalone app for iOS|work=Engadget|date=November 29, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/08/yahoo-officially-launches-its-yahoo-answers-qa-mobile-app/|title=Yahoo officially launches its Yahoo Answers Q&A mobile app – VentureBeat|work=VentureBeat|date=December 8, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/09/yahoo-answers-makes-its-official-mobile-debut/|title=Yahoo Answers makes its official mobile debut – TechCrunch|work=TechCrunch|date=December 9, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2016}}

On April 5, 2021, an announcement was made that Yahoo! Answers would be shutting down on May 4, 2021, with questions and answers no longer being postable after April 20, 2021, and questions and answers stored on the site being deleted after June 30, 2021. On May 4, 2021, the site ceased operations and redirected to a Yahoo Help page{{Efn|Most content may remain available through the digital archive the Wayback Machine.{{Cite web|title=How to Cope With Loss: Yahoo Answers Is Shutting Down|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/cope-loss-yahoo-answers-shutting-203340889.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.yahoo.com|language=en-US}}}} until July, after which it redirected to the main Yahoo page. Yahoo gave reduced usage of the site as the reason for shutting down, saying "it has become less popular over the years." The archivist group Archive Team and others worked to archive the site to preserve in the Internet Archive.{{Cite web |author1=Dhruv Mehrotra|author2=Shoshana Wodinsky|url=https://gizmodo.com/were-archiving-yahoo-answers-so-youll-always-know-how-b-1846643969|title=We're Archiving Yahoo Answers So You'll Always Know How Babby Is Formed|website=Gizmodo|date=2021-04-09|access-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409183212/https://gizmodo.com/were-archiving-yahoo-answers-so-youll-always-know-how-b-1846643969|archive-date=2021-04-09|url-status=live}} The group was able to archive 4.75 TB of data during the "read only" period, but not the full site.{{Cite web|url=https://tracker.archiveteam.org/yahooanswers2/|title=Yahooanswers2 tracker Dashboard|website=tracker.archiveteam.org}}{{cite web |title=Yahoo Answers Archival|url=https://wiki.archiveteam.org/index.php/Yahoo!_Answers |website=Archive Team |access-date=April 9, 2021}} The same day the site shut down, the wider Yahoo brand was sold to Apollo Global Management.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56972205|title=Yahoo sold again in new bid to revive its fortunes|work=BBC News|date=May 3, 2021}}

The closure did not affect the Yahoo! Japan version of the site, {{nihongo|Yahoo! Chiebukuro|Yahoo!知恵袋}}{{cite web|url=http://chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp|title=Yahoo! Chiebukuro Website|access-date=May 5, 2021}} which remains online.

Yahoo! Answers allowed any questions that did not violate Yahoo! Answers community guidelines.{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines |title=Community guidelines |publisher=Yahoo! Answers |access-date=April 20, 2012}} To encourage good answers, helpful participants were occasionally featured on the Yahoo! Answers Blog. Though the service itself was free, the contents of the answers were owned by the respective users; Yahoo! maintains a non-exclusive and royalty-free worldwide right to publish the information.{{cite web|title=Yahoo! Terms of Service|url=http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html|publisher=Yahoo! Terms|access-date=August 22, 2012|quote=9) Content submitted or made available for inclusion on the Yahoo! Services: Yahoo! does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Yahoo! Services. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services, you grant Yahoo! the following worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable}} Chat was explicitly forbidden in the Community Guidelines, although categories like Politics and Religion & Spirituality were mostly opinion.{{cite news|title=Users of Yahoo Answers seek advice, opinion, expertise|url=http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/6495|access-date=August 22, 2012|newspaper=University of Michigan News Service|date=April 21, 2008|first=Nicole Casal|last=Moore|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}} Users could also choose to reveal their Yahoo! Messenger ID on their Answers profile page.

Misuse of Yahoo! Answers was handled by a user moderation system, where users reported posts that were in breach of guidelines or the Terms of Service.{{dubious|date=November 2018}} Posts were removed if they received a sufficient weight of trusted reports (reports from users that had a reliable reporting history). Deletion could be appealed: an unsuccessful appeal received a 10-point penalty; a successful one reinstated the post and reduced the 'trust rating' (reporting power) of the reporter(s). If a user received a large number of violations in a relatively short amount of time or a very serious violation, it could cause the abuser's account to be suspended. In extreme (but rare) cases (for a Terms of Service violation), the abuser's entire Yahoo! ID could be suddenly deactivated without warning.

To open an account, a user needed a Yahoo! ID but could use any name as identification on Yahoo! Answers. A user could be represented by a picture from various internet avatar sites or a user-made graphic uploaded to replace their default Yahoo graphic. Yahoo! Avatars was discontinued in 2012. When answering a question, a user could search Yahoo! or Wikipedia, or any source the user wished, as long as they mentioned their source.

Questions were initially open to answers for four days, and the question's asker could choose to pick a best answer for the question after a minimum of one hour. However, comments and answers could still be posted after this time.{{cite web|title=What if my question doesn't receive any answers?|url=http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&id=SLN4191|publisher=Yahoo! Help|access-date=August 22, 2012}} To ask a question, one had to have a Yahoo! account with a positive score balance of five points or more.

The points system was weighted to encourage users to answer questions and to limit spam questions. There were also levels (with point thresholds), which gave more site access.{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/info/scoring_system|title=Yahoo! Answers – Point System|publisher=Yahoo! Answers|access-date=August 22, 2012|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628020829/http://answers.yahoo.com/info/scoring_system|url-status=dead}} Points and levels had no real world value, could not be traded, and served only to indicate how active a user had been on the site. A notable downside to the points/level system was that it encouraged people to answer questions even when they did not have a suitable answer to give to gain points. Users also received ten points for contributing the "Best Answer" which was selected by the question's asker. The voting function, which allowed users to vote for the answer they considered best, was discontinued in April 2014.

In addition to points awarded for activity, Yahoo! Answers staff could also have awarded extra points if they were impressed with a user's contributions.{{cite web|publisher=Yahoo! Answers Suggestion Board|url=http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=answers&fid=180738|title=A person in my category has -9,000 points this week. (Yes, that's a minus.) Someone else has -22% Best Answers. (Also a minus)|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209221426/http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=answers&fid=180738|archive-date=February 9, 2013|access-date=August 22, 2012|quote=Sometimes when we [Yahoo!Answers employees] are impressed with a user's answer quality or overall contribution to make Answers a better place, we award extra points as a mark of encouragement.|url-status=dead}} The Yahoo! Answers community manager has said "power users" who defend the company should be thanked and rewarded.{{cite web|title=Managing the Mob: What to do when things go wrong|url=http://www.socialtext.net/ocu2009/managing_the_mob_what_to_do_when_things_go_wrong|publisher=Socialtext|access-date=August 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201160033/http://www.socialtext.net/ocu2009/index.cgi?managing_the_mob_what_to_do_when_things_go_wrong|archive-date=December 1, 2009|url-status=live}}

Note: All limitations were per day.

Users began on level 1 and received 100 free points. Prior to this, they began on level{{nbs}}0, could answer only one question, and then were promoted to level{{nbs}}1.

Before April 20, 2012, users levels{{nbs}}5 and above could give an unlimited number of questions, answers, and comments. Yahoo! Answers established an upper limit to curb spam and unproductive answers.{{cite web|title=Limitations on Level 5, 6 and 7 Users|url=http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2012/04/18/limitations-on-level-5-6-and-7-users/|publisher=Yahoo! Answers Blog|access-date=August 22, 2012|date=April 18, 2012|archive-date=May 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501055025/http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2012/04/18/limitations-on-level-5-6-and-7-users/}} Before April 2014 users were also able to vote for a best answer if the asker did not choose one, but this was discontinued.

The point system ostensibly encouraged users to answer as many questions as they possibly could, up to their daily limit. Once a user achieved and maintained a certain minimum number of such contributions (See Note*, further{{nbs}}...), they could receive an orange "badge" under the name of their avatar, naming the user a Top Contributor (TC). Users could lose this badge if they did not maintain their level of participation.{{cite web |url=http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&id=SLN4237 |title=What is a Top Contributor? |publisher=Yahoo! Answers |access-date=August 22, 2012}} Once a user became a "Top Contributor" in any category, the badge appeared in all answers, questions, and comments by the user, regardless of category. A user could be a Top Contributor in a maximum of three categories. The list of Top contributors was updated every Monday. Although Yahoo! Answers staff kept secret the conditions of becoming a TC, many theories existed among users, for example:

• Maintaining a weekly (mystery) "quota" of answers in the category.
• User wanting to become a TC had to have more than or equal to 12% Best answers.
• User should be at least on level 2, although there were claims{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} that first-level users with TC Badge had been seen.
• User should concentrate on only one particular category to become a Top Contributor for that category.

Out of these, none had an official status. This feature began on March 8, 2007.

Badge was seen under the name staff members of Yahoo! Answers.{{cite web|url=http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/answers/badges/badges-02.html|title=What do the different badges on Yahoo! Answers mean?|date= December 7, 2009|publisher=Yahoo!Answers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112143609/http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/answers/badges/badges-02.html|archive-date=November 12, 2010}}

This type of badge was found on the name of celebrities (like mentioned above) and government departments like the health department.

These badges were found under the name of the companies or organizations who share their personal knowledge and experience with the members of Yahoo! Answers.

A number of studies have looked at the structure of the community and the interaction between askers and responders. Studies of user typology on the site revealed that some users ("specialists") answered from personal knowledge while others ("synthesists") used external sources to construct answers{{snd}}synthesists tending to accumulate more reward points.{{cite journal|title=Specialists and Synthesists in a Question Answering Community|last=Gazan|first=R.|year=2006|journal=69th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST), Austin (US), 3–8 November 2006|pages=665–674|publisher=Richard B. Hill|citeseerx=10.1.1.124.6014|display-authors=etal}} Adamic et al. looked at the ego networks of users and showed that it was possible to distinguish "answer people" from "discussion people" with the former found in specialist categories for factual information, such as mathematics and the latter more common in general interest categories, such as marriage and wrestling. They also showed that answer length was a good predictor of "best answer" choice.{{cite web|url=http://www2008.org/papers/fp840.html|title=Knowledge Sharing and Yahoo Answers: Everyone Knows Something|last=Adamic|first=L.|year=2008|work=WWW 2008 / Refereed Track: Social Networks & Web 2.0 – Analysis of Social Networks & Online Interaction|access-date=December 5, 2017|display-authors=etal}} Kim and Oh looked at the comments given by users on choosing best answers and showed that content completeness, solution feasibility and personal agreement/confirmation were the most significant criteria.{{Cite journal | last1 = Kim | first1 = S. | last2 = Oh | first2 = S. | doi = 10.1002/asi.21026 | title = Users' relevance criteria for evaluating answers in a social Q&A site | journal = Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology | volume = 60 | issue = 4 | pages = 716 | year = 2009 }}

Researchers found that questions seeking factual information received few answers and that the knowledge on Yahoo! Answers was generally broad but quite superficial.

"Internet language" including incorrect spelling and improper grammar also contributed to Yahoo! Answers' reputation of being a source of entertainment rather than a fact-based question and answer platform,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20wwln-medium-t.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0|title= Stet |work=The New York Times|date=July 20, 2008|access-date=April 26, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/05/wolfram_alpha_june_09_qanda/|last=Modine|first=Austin |title=Wolfram Alpha to venture beyond boron nucleus |date=June 9, 2009|access-date=January 24, 2011|work=The Register |publisher=Situation Publishing|location=Southport, England}} and for the reliability, validity, and relevance of its answers. A 2008 study found that Yahoo! Answers was "not optimal" for questions requiring factual answers and that the quality decreased as the number of users increased.{{cite web|last1=Liu|first1=Yandong|last2=Agichtein|first2=Eugene|title=On the Evolution of the Yahoo! Answers QA Community|year=2008|url=http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~eugene/papers/sigir2008p-cqa-evolution.pdf|access-date=November 15, 2009|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810131906/http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~eugene/papers/sigir2008p-cqa-evolution.pdf|url-status=dead}} One journalist observed that the structure of Yahoo! Answers, particularly the persistence of inaccuracies, the inability to correct those inaccuracies, and a point structure that rewards participation more than accuracy, all indicated that the site was oriented towards encouraging use of the site and not towards offering accurate answers to questions.{{cite news|first=Jacob|last=Liebenluft|title=A Librarian's Worst Nightmare: Yahoo! Answers, where 120 million users can be wrong.|periodical=Slate|date=December 7, 2007|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2179393/|access-date=August 23, 2011}} The number of poorly formed questions and inaccurate answers made the site a target of ridicule. Likewise, posts on many Internet forums and Yahoo! Answers itself indicated that Yahoo! Answers attracted a large number of trolls.

The site did not have a system that filtered the correct answers from the incorrect answers.{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122981801892624313|title=Looking for a Few Good Answers Online|first=Julia|last=Angwin|author-link=Julia Angwin|publisher=WSJ|date=December 23, 2008}} At one time, the community could vote for the best answer among the posted answers; but that option was disabled in March 2014.{{cite web |url=http://yahooanswers.tumblr.com/post/80173794953/important-changes-to-answers |website=Yahoo! Answers official blog |title=Important Changes to Answers |date=March 20, 2014 |access-date=January 22, 2016 |archive-date=July 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710024809/http://yahooanswers.tumblr.com/post/80173794953/important-changes-to-answers |url-status=dead }} For most of the life of Yahoo! Answers, once the "best answer" was chosen, there was no way to add more answers nor to improve or challenge the best answer chosen by the question asker; there was a display of thumbs down or thumbs up for each answer, but viewers could not vote. In April 2014, this was changed to allow for additional answers after a best answer was chosen, but the best answer could never be changed. Also, while "best answers" could be briefly commented upon, the comment was not visible by default and was hence hardly read.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Even the user who posts the question wasn't notified, before or after the best answer was picked, about a comment on the question or on the best answer. If the best answer chosen was wrong or contained problematic information, the only chance to give a better (or correct) answer would be the next time the same question was asked.

File:YahooAnswersGreenSmiley.png

The official Yahoo! Answers mascot was a cartoon hamster called Yamster. The name Yamster was a combination, or portmanteau, of the words "Yahoo" and "hamster". The mascot was also used as an avatar for Yahoo! Answers staff.{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile?show=AA10030221|title=Yahoo! Answers Team's Profile|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|access-date=April 20, 2012}}

During beta testing of Yahoo! Answers in 2005, the Director of Product Management would use a Gemmy Kung Fu Hamster to summon employees to meetings. The toy was a battery-operated, dancing, musical plush hamster clothed in a karate uniform. A Yahoo! Answers employee selected a photo of the toy as the staff avatar.{{cite web|title=MyThings – View Item: KungFu Hamster|url=http://www.mythings.com/viewitem.aspx?itemid=2849|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026063815/http://www.mythings.com/viewitem.aspx?itemid=2849|archive-date=October 26, 2008|url-status=dead}} A user then questioned the potential trademark/copyright infringement of using such an avatar. At that time, the photo was replaced with the Yahoo! Answers green smiley face. At the beginning of 2006, the green smiley face was replaced by the cartoon Yamster clad in a karate uniform.{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060717125933AAijXHX|title=What is the history of the Yahoo! Answers Hamster?|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|access-date=April 20, 2012}} {{As of|November 2009}}, the history of Yamster, complete with photos of the toy, was available on the Yahoo! Answers Team Vietnam blog.{{cite web|title=Y! Answers _ Yamster|url=http://vn.myblog.yahoo.com/y_hd_hn/article?mid=8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724234450/http://vn.myblog.yahoo.com/y_hd_hn/article?mid=8|archive-date=July 24, 2011|url-status=dead}}

Several celebrities and notables appeared on Yahoo! Answers to ask questions. These users had an "official" badge below their avatar and on their profile page. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney posted questions on Yahoo! Answers, in addition to YouTube.{{cite web|first=Elinor|last=Mills|title=Presidential candidates to appear on YouTube|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6175305-7.html|work=CNET News|date=April 11, 2007|access-date=April 10, 2009|archive-date=August 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812165354/http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6175305-7.html|url-status=dead}} In an awareness campaign, "UNICEF Up Close 2007", nine UNICEF ambassadors asked questions.{{cite web|title=Yahoo Answers Unicef And Widgets Vista|url=http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/01/30/yahoo-answers-unicef-and-widgets-vista|publisher=WebProNews|date=January 30, 2007|access-date=April 10, 2009}}{{cite web|title=UNICEF Up Close 2007|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/info/unicef/|year=2007|access-date=April 10, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828113346/http://answers.yahoo.com/info/unicef/|archive-date=August 28, 2008|url-status=dead}} The launch of Answers on Yahoo! India included a question from A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the President of India at that time.{{cite web|title='Yahoo! Answers' launched|work=The Hindu Business Line|publisher=The Hindu Group|date=January 14, 2007|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/01/14/stories/2007011401840500.htm|access-date =April 10, 2009}} Other guests included international leaders (Queen Rania of Jordan,{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile?show=gW7fcvJWaa|title=Queen Rania of Jordan's Activity – Yahoo! Answers|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|access-date=April 20, 2012|archive-date=April 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402200436/http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile?show=gW7fcvJWaa|url-status=dead}} candidate for United Nations Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile?show=yH7Kn6c9aa|title=Shashi Tharoor's Activity – Yahoo! Answers|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|date=February 1, 2007|access-date=April 20, 2012}}), Nobel Peace Prize laureates (Al Gore,{{cite news|first=Ian|last= Sample|title=Hawking turns to Yahoo for answers to his big question|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/jul/08/news.science|work=The Guardian|date=July 8, 2006|access-date =April 11, 2009}}{{cite web|first=Michele|last=Herman|title=Answer Al Gore's Question, Win a Prius|url=http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6345883.html|work=Extra Helping|publisher=School Library Journal|date=June 23, 2006|access-date =April 11, 2009}} Muhammad Yunus{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061206123456AA1eYAL|title=How can you help to create a poverty-free world? – Yahoo! Answers|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|date=December 6, 2006|access-date=April 20, 2012}}) and other international activists (Bono, Jean-Michel Cousteau{{cite web|url=http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=Algztat5wCyKkbSU7w4lg__py6IX?show=UV2sdWiiaa|title=Jean-Michel Cousteau's Activity – Yahoo! Answers|publisher=Answers.yahoo.com|date=June 7, 2007|access-date=April 20, 2012}}), intellectuals (Stephen Hawking, Marilyn vos Savant), and numerous other celebrities.

Yahoo! used comScore statistics in December 2006 to proclaim Yahoo! Answers "the leading Q&A site on the web".{{cite press release|title=Yahoo! Answers Celebrates One Year of Knowledge and Success as Poll Reveals Use and Influence of Q&A Sites|publisher=Business Wire|date=December 13, 2006|url=http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=222275|access-date=November 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311025530/http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=222275|archive-date=March 11, 2010|url-status=dead}} At one point{{when|date=February 2018}} Yahoo! Answers was ranked as the second most popular Q&A site on the web by comScore.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/10/15/whos-scorched-up-comscore-in-september-you-ask/|title=Who's Scorched Up comScore In September, You Ask?|date=October 15, 2009|access-date=September 18, 2010}}{{cite press release|title=Answers.com Announces September comScore Rank of No. 13, up from No. 18 in August|publisher=Business Wire|date=October 15, 2009|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS117901+15-Oct-2009+BW20091015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018113038/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS117901+15-Oct-2009+BW20091015|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 18, 2009|access-date=November 15, 2009}} The slogan "The world's leading Q&A site" has since been adopted by Answers.com.

In 2009, Yahoo! Answers staff claimed 200 million users worldwide{{cite web|url=http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2009/12/14/yahoo-answers-hits-200-million-visitors-worldwide/|title=Yahoo! Answers hits 200 million visitors – December 14, 2009|publisher=Yanswersblog.com|date=December 14, 2009|access-date=April 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425091451/http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2009/12/14/yahoo-answers-hits-200-million-visitors-worldwide/|archive-date=April 25, 2012|url-status=dead}} and 15 million users visiting daily.{{cite web|url=http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2009/10/05/did-you-know/|title=Did you know? – October 5, 2009|publisher=Yanswersblog.com|date=October 5, 2009|access-date=April 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425091542/http://yanswersblog.com/index.php/archives/2009/10/05/did-you-know/|archive-date=April 25, 2012|url-status=dead}} Google Trends reported around four million unique visitors (Global) daily.{{cite web|url=http://trends.google.com/websites?q=answers.yahoo.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831114416/http://trends.google.com/websites?q=answers.yahoo.com|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 31, 2011|title=Google Trends for Yahoo! Answers|access-date=April 20, 2012}} In January 2010, the web analytics website Quantcast reported 24 million active users (US) per month; in November 2015, that had fallen by 77% to 5.6 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.quantcast.com/answers.yahoo.com|title=Quantcast profile for Yahoo! Answers|publisher=Quantcast.com|access-date=April 20, 2012}}

Quantcast traffic statistics for Yahoo! Answers, January 2010:

• 24,201,619 people per month (US)
• 62,171,200 visits per month (US)

For January 1{{ndash}}30, 2015:

• 11,273,839 people per month (US)

For October 31{{snd}}November 29, 2015:

• 5,555,080 people per month (US)

For December 1{{snd}}December 30, 2015:

• 4,546,016 people per month (US)

Google Ad Planner traffic statistics for Yahoo! Answers, December 2009:{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/adplanner/site_profile#siteDetails?identifier=answers.yahoo.com |title=Site profile for Yahoo! Answers |access-date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104011807/https://www.google.com/adplanner/site_profile |archive-date=January 4, 2012}}

• 26,000,000 unique visitors (users) (US)
• 110,000,000 total visits (US)

Compete Site Analytics traffic statistics for Yahoo! Answers, December 2009:{{cite web|url=http://siteanalytics.compete.com/answers.yahoo.com|title=Site Profile for answers.yahoo.com|publisher=Site Analytics|date=October 26, 2011|access-date=April 20, 2012|archive-date=April 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406095831/http://siteanalytics.compete.com/answers.yahoo.com/|url-status=dead}}

• 33,090,163 unique visitors (US)
• 64,928,634 visits (US)

Yahoo! Answers represented between 1.03%{{cite web|url=http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2009/03/yahoo_mail_more_than_one_third.html|title=Yahoo! Mail More than One Third of Yahoo! Traffic|date=March 5, 2009|first=Heather|last=Hopkins|publisher=Experian Hitwise blogs|access-date=April 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403012955/http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2009/03/yahoo_mail_more_than_one_third.html|archive-date=April 3, 2012|url-status=dead}} to 1.7%{{cite web|url=http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yahoo.com|title=Yahoo.com site info|publisher=Alexa.com|access-date=August 22, 2012|archive-date=January 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107075648/https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yahoo.com|url-status=dead}} of Yahoo! traffic.

The comedy/advice podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me featured a reoccurring segment in which co-host Griffin McElroy selected and read a particularly humorous or outrageous question from Yahoo! Answers, submitted by listeners of the podcast. The hosts would then discuss and attempt to answer the question, to comedic effect.{{cite web|title=My Brother, My Brother, and Me|url=http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/my-brother-my-brother-and-me|website=Maximum Fun|date=January 17, 2011|access-date=February 8, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Lavender|first1=Dave|title=McElroy brothers find success with podcast|url=http://www.herald-dispatch.com/features_entertainment/mcelroy-brothers-find-success-with-podcast/article_3722fffd-8560-5e04-8bc4-5371c39fec7a.html|access-date=February 8, 2017|work=The Herald-Dispatch|date=November 8, 2010}} The McElroys held a memorial for Yahoo Answers in the episode "Funeral for a Friend", shortly ahead of the service's closure.{{Cite web|url=https://maximumfun.org/episodes/my-brother-my-brother-and-me/mbmbam-420-funeral-for-a-friend/|title=MBMBaM 420: Funeral for a Friend|date=April 20, 2021}}

The Internet troll Ken M was a regular user on Yahoo! Answers, posting comments that confounded and annoyed other users. There were several communities on social media sites such as Reddit and Facebook dedicated to observing his antics, especially on Yahoo! Answers.{{cite web|title= Ken M dedicated Reddit site|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/KenM/|website=Reddit.com|access-date=March 28, 2017}}{{cite web|title= Ken M official Facebook page|url=https://www.facebook.com/kenmofficial/|website=Facebook.com|access-date=March 28, 2017}} Ken was named as one of Time{{'}}s most influential people online in 2016.{{cite web|title= Independent article on Ken M|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ken-m-the-internet-troll-named-as-one-of-times-most-influential-people-online-a6938886.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ken-m-the-internet-troll-named-as-one-of-times-most-influential-people-online-a6938886.html |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=independent.co.uk|date=March 18, 2016 |access-date=March 28, 2017}}{{cbignore}}

• Comparison of Q&A sites
• Answers.com
• Ask MetaFilter
• Askalo
• Askville
• Blurtit
• Google Answers
• Q&A software
• Hunch
• Knowledge Search
• LinkedIn Answers
• Quora
• Stack Exchange

{{reflist}}

{{notelist}}

• {{cite news |last1=Gomes |first1=Lee |title=Portals: Success, greed in the new economy of web point payouts |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=The Wall Street Journal |date=August 23, 2006 |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06235/715694-96.stm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306235418/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06235/715694-96.stm |archive-date=March 6, 2008}}

• [http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=answers Yahoo! Answers Suggestion Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302212313/http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=answers |date=March 2, 2014 }}
• [https://developer.yahoo.com/answers/ Answers API]

{{Yahoo! Inc.}}

{{Oath Inc.}}

Category:Question-and-answer websites

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