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Discovery and the power of the peer
We are writing a lot here about the work being done by Google and Yahoo - these two giants are behind a lot of the most innovative work being done on the web (or acquiring it). Both have moved well beyond being just a search engine.
We’ve written here before about the potential for Yahoo! Answers as an interesting approach to participatory search. Over the last couple of weeks, Yahoo! have given us all a peak at how Answers is being built into the heart of their revamped sites - Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Autos Green Center being the latest examples.
Answers, it is becoming clear, isn’t just an supplement to search, but a people-centered approach to finding - a distinctly different proposition. The power of peer suggestion and recommendation is at its core - a highly relevant, more directed form of online discussion that promotes discovery and findability above chat. It’s in these product sites that you can really see the potential for Answers in building communities, leveraging the knowledge of others and so much more.
Lots more to come, I’m sure - it’s fascinating watching Yahoo’s strategy gradually emerge.
