AnswerTips gets a warm welcome out the gate

Just as the holiday weekend was gearing up, an article praising the technology and functionality of AnswerTips appeared in a well known blog, CleverClogs. Jay B., who first sent word of this story out, wrote:

I first noticed this beautifully written blog entry (well, of course it’s about us) and was delighted to see a blogger getting excited about AnswerTips…even before we launched it as an offering on the site. But even more exciting — Gil and Michal are now officially Technorati tags! What’s also nice is that this is a serious blogger; Google page rank of 4, which is rare for a blog. As soon as we get this page up there, Liz will be spending a lot of time getting people like this hooked on AnswerTips…

So it looks like we can look forward to more positive press in the New Year about AnswerTips …

An article apropos of the season, came to the defense of the often heckled confection, the fruit cake. The author, Jean Clements, said that in Canada fruit cake was the traditional wedding cake. Whether the guests minded, she doesn’t mention, but she does say that all the information you would ever want to know about fruit cakes can be found at Answers.com.

There were several notable deaths in the news this week, and Answers.com was repeatedly one place reporters turned when they needed biographical information. Poynter Online, a web resource for journalists, even pointed reporters toward Answers.com for information on a foiled assassination attempt on former president Gerald Ford. Some album information on the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” appeared on Ochblog.

blufr

AP writer Jake Coyle wrote a story about the Whimsical and Weird Websites of 2006. blufr made the cut. The story has been reprinted in Austin 360 and The Lexington Herald.

Blufr also made another list this week. Bob Stumpel put together a list of games he feels are going to be part of the Web 3.0 phenomenon, and blufr ranked again.

Hope you all enjoy your New Year’s celebration.

Stories on Staffers

Many staffers at Answers.com had interviews appear in the news this week. Rob Formentin had a story in iMedia that explained why advertisers should put their dollars down on Answers.com. Jeff Cutler, Bruce Smith and Chris Witten had a lunch meeting with John Blossom that turned into an article on FAQ Farm and viability of WikiAnswers.

Jacob Shwirtz has also been getting some attention this week thanks to his video and fancy footwork. “Where in Israel is Jacob?” is currently listed in as the #10 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Travel & Places - English on YouTube. The video has also been showing on a number of blogs. Just a partial list is below:

http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=2978

http://standwithus.blogspot.com/2006/12/where-in-israel-is-jacob.html

http://www.theviewfromhere.net/2006/12/arthur-murray-calling.html

http://www.israelity.com/?p=1762

Answers.com is often used as a new source, but this week blufr also proved to be a mouth of authority. In the Winnipeg Free Press, blufr trivia helped answer why the sport of hockey is also known as curling.

On a final note, there’s a blogger in San Francisco whose into the spirit — not the holiday spirit, but the spirit of champagne. And he tells his readers that before they pop some tops off the bubbly, they should check out information about this libation on Answers.com.

Answers.com is a featured search this month

Answers.com was nominated as the “Featured Search Engine” for the month of December on Internet Marketing Monitor. As the site says, “Most search engines help people find websites. Sure… we use them to find information. But, for the most part, we're looking for sources of knowledge when we use a search engine.” That’s where Answers.com steps in. “Unlike a lot of other search engines, Answers.com doesn't point users to the information… it brings the information to you.”

Investor Ashkan Karbasfrooshan reiterated again on Seeking Alpha that he has a soft spot for Anwers.com, and will continue to hold his shares in the stock. You can see what he originally wrote about Answers.com on Nov, 8. on his blog at HipMojo.com.

And of course, Answers.com provided the relevant, authoritative information that journalists depend on when piecing their stories together. This week, Answers.com supplied information on proper ping-pong ball grips, the history of hockey, and when the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was first referenced in print. A marketer for i-choosemygift.com also gave Answers.com credit in a press release for helping define the word “savings” — something in scant supply at the holiday season.

blufr
blufr got another nod of approval from the education and reference folks this week. The Essex Library Association in Connecticut linked the game on their site, calling it “a trivia quiz to help pass the time during a slow moment with Uncle Homer and Aunt Millie til the next wave of turkey gravy is ready.”

Tech programmer, Ravishankar Shrivastava, likes blufr so much he actually posted the code so readers could add it to their own site … way!

Answers.com at iMedia

Robert Formentin brought in a great article about Answers.com this week during his time out at iMedia.

Reporter Kevin Ryan of iMedia Connection wrote an article that highlighted how Answers.com is different from the competition and why advertisers should place their ads on the site.

The Columbus Dispatch has an interesting column where they invite users to submit questions and then answer them one a month. Seems that Answers.com is often the source for these answers.

This month, Answers.com supplied the facts about when Christmas lights first became popular both inside the home and out.

In education, our friend Alan November inspired blogger Ken Ronkowitz to mention us after presenting his workshop last week. Alan gave the group his usual spiel: beware of search and use Answers.com.

Know that Russian ex-spy who was poisoned? It was polonium. What’s polonium? Dallas Morning News gives us kudos for being able to define the extremely rare — and dangerous — element.

The Gadget Guide, which explains the terms behind the technology, has been receiving its own fair amount of press, as well. Tech Whack picked up the press release and Liz has had success encouraging bloggers to review the page.

blufr

Stan Carthage lists all he’s learned from blufr … it’s so smart!

Questions swirl over who will rule answers space

This week, Answers.com had a slew of press mentions from the demise of Google Answers. The partnership the company has with Yahoo! Answers received many favorable mentions. The specifics of the story were mentioned everywhere from major newspapers like USA Today to online blogs, like ContentBlogger. One story from TechNews World prominently features comments from Answers.com's own Bruce Smith.

An old blogger friend, CU Online, who has been known to repost material from the Teacher Toolkit newsletter was up to it again this week. She reprinted content from the November 26^th newsletter on both blufr and on our graphic organizer, Research Right. Mobile Answers got some press of its own in the education community. Steve Demb mentioned MobileAnswers as a valuable tool for teachers during his K-12 Online Conference presentation on mobile learning resources.

Blufr

Perhaps this guy should be writing copy for blufr. On his corporate blog, he states, “blufr is a trivia question game. More fun than playing board games with your teenage children ("what's a board game?"), more addictive than cannabis, more informative than the nine o'clock news, playing Blufr is better for your career than suicide and better for your verbal skills than a total laryngectomy.”

Another witty write up on the blogs this week challenges users: I bet you can’t just click one.