Seems like everyday there's a new Google service of some kind, but today there's finally one less. Yes, [Google Answers has gone the way of dodo][2].

I can't say as though I ever used Google Answers so I won't be missing it and, according to Wikipedia that leaves Google with [eighty-five services/search engines/applications][1] so I doubt they'll miss it either.

Since removing the existing Q and A's would be, well, stupid, the site will remain but there will be no more Answers after the end of the year.

Google Answers, which generated only 800 Q and As over the past four years had long taken a back seat to Yahoo's similar offer, [Yahoo Answers][3]. 

What does this mean? I for one take this to mean that Google is not invincible and that you can in fact compete successfully against Google. It would seem that at least on some leave the long-tail, social model (Yahoo Answers) has a greater appeal than the authority of experts (Google Answers). Though perhaps it has more to do with free versus $2.50 an answer.


[2]: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/adieu-to-google-answers.html
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products
[3]: http://answers.yahoo.com/