Yahoo! released their beta version of Yahoo! Answers today. Their release of "answers" comes only 3.5 years after the release of Google Answers, leaving lots of "questions" to what took so damn long?
The first major difference between the 2 are that Google Answers utilizes about 500 handpicked researches, whereas Yahoo! Answers allows anyone to post an answer who has a Yahoo! account. While making it public seems to be a good idea at first thought, you have to consider the problems that wikipedia has faced with bad information. One of the first questions I looked at on Yahoo! Answers was COMPLETELY wrong.
Example:
What is the difference between an INC and a LLC?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Its all about cya. In an Inc, the owners can have their personal property taken away. An LLC is designed to shield the personal property of the owners from lawsuits and bankruptcy. - Link to question
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WTF? I think Yahoo! Answers would be the LAST place I would look for business advice. Even worse is that the Asker accepted this as the best answer before anyone else could respond. Pathetic. Now, only comments can be added to this question.
The second difference is that Google Answers cost $ (starting at $2.50), while Yahoo! Answers is currently free.
I think I'd rather pay $2.50 for an answer on Google that has a better chance of being correct than relying on anyone to post the answer. Maybe a basic intelligence test and category questionaire would be appropriate before people could begin posting questions?
I will admit I do like the design and interface that Yahoo! has used better than Google's but I think I will wait a bit to see how everything pans out before I start relying on their answers.