Being an object of affection

Popularity might seem like something only high-schoolers strive for, but brands are always looking for status, as well. That’s why Answers.com was thrilled that they were ranked the 62^nd largest web property in the U.S., based on unique monthly visitors for the month of January by comScore. This compares to their ranking of 78 for December of 2006.

And talking about popular, AnswerTips, even though still officially unrealeased, has been like the cool new kid. As the tool has slowly slipped into the hands of bloggers, there have been some absolute raves. Case in point, the comments on Vivi’s Wine Journal: “OK, I’ve found the functionality that each and every wine blogger in the world should add to their blog. Its called “AnswerTips…”

MobileAnswers garnered some nice recognition for itself, too, this week. In a story from Adotas, the mobile service played a bit part in a story highlighting some of the obstacles for wide-spread adoption of the mobile web, the more popular apps online for mobile, as well as some neat sites outside of carriers’ offering. One of those mentioned is MobileAnswers, which according to the company, has been running faster and smoother than ever. MobileAnswers was also spotlighted in a blog post from Mobivity. The author tells his readers: “This is a really great service. There are some SMS tools out there that I’ve seen, but they don’t seem to work correctly, and charge a premium for each message.”

Back in September, Answers.com hooked up with School Bus Radio in an advertising deal. It seemed like a natural fit for the world’s greatest encyclodictionalmanacapedia to advertise with a service geared specifically to students. SBR, which officially launched in November, has since received flak from conservative activists balking at the idea of targeting kids with commercials. An article from Southern California newspaper Inland News, however, seems to highlight some of the positive responses from both bus drivers and parents in a district that recently adopted the service. Among its stronger points SBR does not play rap songs with questionable lyrics and per hour, there are less ads on SBR than on FM radio stations.