Webanswers.com: a Q & A and a Money Maker?

Some Q & A sites are making money – in one way or the other depending on the traffic they amass. While the big ones like Answers.com and Yahoo! Answers, don’t sweat it much, the others certainly do and are all in the business of making money through facilitating “Social Search” – a fancy, web 2.0ish way of calling Q & A sites. Is there a Q &A site that makes YOU money? Yes, of course. Webanswers.com has a way to fill your wallet with dollars. Let’s explore:

It’s Google Adsense earnings; so you won’t be going to Hawaii yet

While I was certainly intrigued about the possibility of making money through my concerted efforts and a humongous amount of time spent on Q & A sites, I was more than happy when I saw that I could actually make money using webanswers.com. I half-expected the business model to be based on Google Ad sense and unfortunately, it was indeed based on it. I have nothing against Google Ad sense but it isn’t my way of making money – it can’t pay mortgage or the bills and it can’t keep you well-fed. It can earn you chump change; if that’s what you are looking for.

Google Ad sense is perhaps one of the pillars that helps sustain Google’s wealth (but not yours). There was a time during Internet’s birth and teenage years when Google Ad sense used to make webmasters tons of money. Today, there are too many ways to make money to focus on this one.

If you are on webanswers.com for the usual Q &A grind, no comments. If you are on it to make money, you are wasting your precious time there.

An Easy, 2-page Asking Process

Compared to some other sites I know, webanswers.com makes it easy for you to ask questions even if you are not a member of the site (you will be made to register during your question asking process anyway). Page 1 is where you begin with a question and a description. Page 2 helps you to channelize your question and pick up a category while registering for the site.  Preview your question, confirm it and you are live, while thousands of minds all over the world will begin to think of an answer to send it your way.

Comprehensive Category list

Unlike Questionhub’s category listing which is aggregated, webanswers.com has an even more impressive category listing page (actually had to scroll down to get to the end of the listing). Linked in blue and with each category torn down into relevant sub-categories, this should easily be the most exhaustive category listing for any Q &A site on the Internet today ( possible exceptions being Yahoo! Answers).

Quality is pleasing enough to warrant time spent

Thankfully, the site isn’t a waste of your time; it’s questions are serious enough and has equally serious answers. I have a feeling that the “earn money through Google Ad sense” strategy keeps this quality alive and helps in bringing about a sense of motivation among the patrons of the site. How much can the “earn money” program really succeed in keeping the quality alive and brimming is something we will need to wait and watch. For now, even for the hard-nosed, Mr.Skeptical that I am, it seems to be working ( $8000 paid out in the last month; but don’t forget that it’s spread out among 80,000 people or what?) For most people on Q &A sites looking to help others or for those looking to have their questions answered, even chump change is welcome.

If you are looking to make money, there are other things you should do. If you are looking to spend on Q & A because you are an information junkie like me, webanswers.com — among many other Q &A sites — can certainly help. If you don’t mind the clinking dimes, you will thank me.