So... I pretty much love GA.  The question is, what are the rules for
commentators?  I know its fine for questions like "I like blue.. do
you like blue?" to jump in an voice an opinion... but for "real"
questions, do researchers get upset if a commentator jumps in with a
valid answer?  Does the anger scale proportionally with the price of
the question?

Scary

Hi, Scary!

I may be a hot potato on GA, but I started out as a common tater. 

When I first discovered Google Answers (in the summer of 2002),
applications for new Researchers were no longer being accepted. Since
I have a hard time taking "no" for an answer, I devoted myself to
making comments, hoping to prove my worth.

Mostly I posted just helpful snippets and single links (I still do a
lot of that). When I posted actual, complete answers, it was generally
to questions that were several days old. It seemed to me that for a
commentator to post a full, well-documented answer to a fresh question
would be annoying to Researchers.

Once I was anointed as an official Google Answers Researcher, and
found myself on the other side of the fence, I learned that it is
indeed frustrating for a Researcher to open a question in hopes of
answering it, and find that someone has already done so, free of
charge. For those of us who rely upon GA as our sole source of income,
this can be quite disappointing. The higher the fee, the greater the
disappointment. But, in my case, I can't say that much anger usually
results. It's more of an "Oh, heck" experience than anything else.
Allowing this kind of thing to get under one's skin for very long
isn't healthy, IMHO.

I sometimes wish that there were more commentators who offer something
genuinely helpful, and fewer who pull statistics out of their
hindquarters and offer them up as facts. And, if I ran the world,
non-Researcher comments would not be permitted until a question was,
say, 12 hours old. This would give us money-grubbing hustlers a chance
to go for the gold before the selfless masses start tossing out
answers for free. ;-)

By and large, I am delighted by GA's "Comment" feature. It got me to
where I am today, and it has enabled me to enjoy many pleasant
interchanges with GA users from all over the world, yourself included.

Thanks for the opportunity to express my views on this matter. I look
forward to seeing lots of Comments!

Best,
Pink

As always, pink, excellent.  It'd be interesting if Google published
statistics for GA - answer rate, question $$ averager, rating average.

The only downside with scouring 12-hour/day old questions is if none
of the "pros" could answer it, I'm certainly not likely to.  "Please
list all contributors to the Democratic and Republican parties, and
their motivation for doing so - $2.00 -RUSH!!"

Anyway, thanks much for the feedback.  Fascinating stuff.

S

I understand the issue as well, Pink :) I'm trying to be helpful in
comments. Sometimes I do well, and sometimes... well, I try.

I wouldn't mind terribly there being some "Researcher Priority" time on Answers. 

I learn a lot reading the questions, and for me, it's part of the fun
to try to find the 'Oh, well, that's *GOT* to be easy enough to find.'
and then be surprised by the difficulty.

If I had another wish, it'd be that users read the FAQ (no personal
information requested), and that somehow it'd be even more obvious the
diffence between Researchers and Members. Somehow there should be a
FAQ that handles viruses and hijacked browsers. But, it's free money
:).

I'd like to see Researchers attempt to answer more than ask
clarifications first. It seems rampant that one researcher asks
clarification, then another answers. It'd help if the end user can
change his star rating on an answer, and some standard disclaimers be
appended to an Answer (please ask for clarifications before rating).

I see so few (relative) actual ratings that I wonder if they matter
much. I mean, I guess they do, to pride and maybe to remaining a GAR,
but it's not as pervasive as say, ebay's feedback.

I'd also like not to see an Answer posted that was identical to a
comment. I know it can't be helped sometimes, but posting an Answer up
to a day later than an identical comment... Not my idea of good form.
:) I also hopes this doesn't get deleted because it was a generic
comment and not specifically naming names or unprofessional in any
way. :)

Hey pink,

You didn't actually do any research for this question :-)

>> You didn't actually do any research for this question :-)

Sure I did. I searched the deepest recesses of my intellect, using
Boolean operators. Boy, do those Boolean operators tickle when they're
inside your head.

I also consulted my Inner Child, but she was being a brat; she made a
rude noise at me and told me to leave her alone until "SpongeBob
SquarePants" was over.

I've made perhaps 1000 comments on answers.google. Typically I do no
research, and my occassional answers are from my head, usually with
IMHO or equivelent added as a disclaimer. Often as not, I ask for
clarification such as what country are you in, or I suggest several
possible meanings the question may have.
 By the time I get to page two or three of the complete list, I
suspect a researcher is unlikely, so I answer any part of the
question, I can. Typically there are parts of the question, where I
don't have a clue, so there is still need for a researcher. I expect a
researcher to tell me I am wrong, if I am, and I occasionally think a
researcher missed the mark and say so or just give a far out slant on
the subject.
 I think answers.google needs more good coments as more than 1/2 of
the questions get neither an answer nor a comment.  Neil

Scary,

Thank you very much for the five stars and the lavish tip! I agree
that it would be interesting if Google published statistics for GA,
such as answer rate, question price averages, and rating average. As a
Researcher, I would find such figures fascinating.

~Pink