2010 12/02

When Will Google Stop? Now They’ve Aquired Aardvark

By Erica
View Comments com
Filed in: Social Networking

You may recall that I recently posted about my love for Aardvark, the social site for getting your questions answered. Since that time I have become a very active member of the community, asking and answering questions and loving every minute of it. There is something personal about Aarvark; you ask a question and a real person answers. It’s like searching Google, but not…

Or is it?

Aarvark just announced that they have joined Google. Or should we say, they have been acquired by Google. I’m sure this is a huge step for Aarvark, both money wise and for the scaling of their service. However, I can’t help but worry that some of the things I’ve grown to love about vark.com will change.

Now the question is, will our Aardvark Q and A’s be listed publicly in our Google Buzz feeds?

Will the personal be made commercial?

Melvin

I don't really have problems with Google acquiring as much as they can as long as they don't cut the features that I love with them.. And its better of course if they can add more.
EricaMueller

True, Melvin. As someone else pointed out, Google's more into buying things and letting them sit nowadays, so maybe Aardvark won't change too much!

Thanks for stopping by!
joshhanagarne

I'd never heard of Aardvark. What is it that you love so much?
EricaMueller

I love that you ask a question and it's immediately sent out to people who can answer it. You can take the answer you're given, or you can ask followup questions. No one is paid to do this, it's just people asking and answering questions. It's like asking a question on Twitter, but better. More direct and it's not getting lost in a stream of thousands of other tweets, going out to hundreds of people who don't have a clue. A couple people I've helped with Wordpress related issues have become readers and subscribers of this blog.
Nicholas Cardot

I doubt some of the things will change. It seems like Google loves to acquire properties and then production on it just comes to a stand-still. I can count the number of changes at Feedburner on one hand since Google took it over. They used to be innovative and they were constantly bringing new ideas to the playing field. Now the innovation is a fraction of what it was.

If you like Aardvaark the way it is now, that's good. Because my best guess is that it won't be changing much.
EricaMueller

Nicholas,

I think you're right. I've noticed they've been buying things and pretty much letting them sit. So, maybe there won't be any major changes. Like I said, this is probably a good move for Aardvark as a company. If there's something they've wanted to expand, Google will have the money and manpower to make it happen.
Tom | Build That List

I went to their website and I am still trying to find out what Aardvark is? Is it kind of like a search engine?
EricaMueller

With aardvark you ask a question, and it goes out to anyone who's added that category to their profile. So, your question is automatically, and quickly sent out to people who have already said they know about that topic and will answer those questions.

You can do this through email or IM, or directly on the site. It's fabulous. I've answered a lot more questions than I've asked. I've even gained readers from helping people on vark.com

blog comments powered by Disqus

Erica Says Community Newsletter

Get personal updates from Erica, extra tips and features delivered straight to your inbox!

Featured Post

Help Me Help You – WordPress Questions
Today I had a couching session with a member of the Guru Blogging Bluprint team. They asked what I want to do, business wise, and [...]

31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Rowse (Problogger)

An absolute must-have course for anyone who wishes to blog successfully, either for profit or mass readership. Darren shows you, in 31 easy to follow steps, how to increase your traffic, create a community, avoid burnout, and more.