Hello jacquelinerogers-ga,
I notice that you've posted several very similar questions and that
you seem to be part of a group that's also posting additional similar
questions. Several of you have raised questions about how much
information the researcher provided for the the price you paid and
seemed disappointed by the comparison. I've also asked for a
clarification on your Home Decorating question but you didn't respond.
I've posted some comments to a question by caromcc-ga/Carolyne to help
with getting familiar with Google Answers so you will have the best
possible experience. I'm copying the information I furnished her to
make it easier for you to review. I hope that as you get more
experienced with Google Answers you will get more out of it. I hope to
see you and your friends here on GA as very satisfied and frequent
customers.
All the best.
~ czh ~
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=543360
Subject: Re: Macrame
From: czh-ga on 15 Jul 2005 22:30 PDT
Dear Carolyne,
You say that you're a new user of Google Answers and you're trying to
understand better what you can expect for your posted price. I've
posted a clarification to your Doll Making question referring you to
the FAQ and Pricing Guidelines. I notice that your friend Harold has
also asked similar questions about pricing.
I also noticed that there seem to be several more people asking very
similar questions. I don't know if there are more of you trying out
Google Answers. All of the questions I noticed include the following
requests with the exact (or similar) phrasing.
-- "I would like a list of the best resources on the web" and
-- "related affiliate programs"
I will be happy to post some information for you from the perspective
of a researcher.
I don't know if you realize it or not, but Google Answers Researchers
are indipendent contractors and make their own decisions about what
questions they want to answer at what price. We get 75% of the price
so a $20 question pays us $15. What might look simple and attractive
to one reseacher may look difficult and uninteresting to another.
Researchers come from many backgrounds. If a researcher notices a
question that relates to a subject they're familiar with or passionate
about, they might answer even if the price is low. In such situations
researchers will frequently furnish much more information than you
should expect based on the price of a question. In effect, you get a
bonus answer -- the equivalent of a "tip" from a researcher to the
customer.
Other researcher will stay very much within the pricing guidelines.
For example, questions priced at $2-$5 "Can be answered with a single
link or a single piece of information." You will see very few
questions answered with a single link no matter what the price.
Researhers tend to give much more than the minimum.
Questions priced in the $10 - $50 range can be expected to be answered
in 30 minutes according the to pricing guidelines. The topics and
range of difficulty at this price range vary enormously as does the
effort required to answer them. Sometimes an abundance of hits is more
difficult to sort out than having just a few hits. Some researchers
like doing long lists related to some topic others find these
questions too boring to bother with. Through the years we've also had
a number of customers who asked for long lists of certain types of web
sites who turned out to be Internet scammers and when the fraud was
discovered the question was pulled and the researcher's pay was
withdrawn.
Sometimes the preliminary research shows that the question cannot be
answered as it is asked and the researcher will need additional
information from the customer. Some customers are responsive to
clarification requests while others simply keep repeating what they
said in the first place.
Researchers are very reluctant to deliver bad news because many
customers have given bad ratings because they're unhappy with the
negative findings -- even though the answer is clearly accurate and of
high quality. Customers hate to have their preconceptions or
expectations turn out wrong and frequently punish the researcher with
a low rating.
There is also a somewhat intuitive element to the customer/researcher
interaction. As with all relationships, some people are better at
communicating than others. Some people hit it off while others rub
each other the wrong way. Some people like to play their cards close
to the vest while others are open and forthcoming. All of these
factors influence the quality of the answer you will get and the
satisfaction you feel from the exchange.
As a first time user you may not be aware that there is a "Google
Answers Community" that has developed among the researchers and
customers. People who are regulars have figured out what works for
them, who they like, what types of questions to answers, what to avoid
with a ten foot pole. There are the one star smackdowns accompanied by
harsh remarks as well as the out-of-the-blue incredibly generous tips.
We're all people and we all want to have a satisfying exchange. On the
other hand, for some it's just a job and just a question. It's amazing
how quickly both sides of the exhange build a track record and
reputation based on the questions asked and answers given.
I hope the information I've provided will help you get a better
understanding of what you can expect from Google Answers. If you or
your friends would like more information I suggest that you post a
question asking researchers about their approach. You might be
surprised at how much valuable input you get.
Here's a prior question that might shed additional light on researcher motivation.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=261719
Q: Google Answer Motivation
I hope we'll see you and your friends become happy regulars at Google Answers.
~ czh ~ |
