Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

Top 10 Google Flubs, Flops, and Failures

Not everything Google touches turns to gold. These are some of Google's biggest nonstarter Web services, software programs, and business moves.

Tom Spring, PC World

Question: What Happened to Google Answers? Answer: It Flopped

For five years Google Answers allowed anyone to post a question along with a bid price they were willing to pay for a researched answer. A prescreened group of Google Answer researchers would accept the fee (or not) and if they did accept the offer, answer the question.

Along with well-heeled high school and college students, I was a big fan of the site. Answers were usually complete, well researched, and well written. But quality isn't always rewarded on the Internet. Google just couldn't compete with Yahoo Answers, a free service that relied not on paying customers, but on a mammoth and loyal Yahoo community. Google's official Google Answers response to the question "What has happened to Answers?" is "There is no answer at this time." Google may not be accepting your questions, but you can still search the database of answers.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

"Top 10 Google Flubs, Flops, and Failures" Comments

Related Browsers & Add-Ons Articles

More Related Browsers & Add-Ons Articles
  • CDW Virtualization Center What is Virtualization and how can it help you save money? Click here to find out.
  • Asus Laptop Showcase Ultra-fashionable thin and light notebooks with SmartLogon Face Recognition. Find out more...
  • HP Ink Center Bring improved color and brilliance to your printed material. Visit the Resource Center for more info...

PC World's Marketplace

PC World's Free Whitepapers

Name City
Address 1 State Zip
Address 2 E-mail (optional)