SAN FRANCISCO – Answers.com, which specializes in providing access to a range of professionally researched content, is wading into the virtual land of user-generated content with its acquisition of Wiki company FAQ Farm.
The $2 million cash purchase adds FAQ Farm’s collection of community-driven questions and answers to Answers.com, which already provides free access to almost four million topics, drawn from over 100 branded encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses and other sources.
“FAQ Farm is a rich community of people who update and tune the information so you end up with a self-improving page,” Answers.com “Their mission is to find answers to anything. We plan to strengthen and improve their core competence and continue to grow as a trusted brand.” Rosenschein also said he is a fan and supporter of Wikipedia which has been criticized for inaccuracies, but said “FAQ Farm is more focused.” The initial integration of FAQ Farm into Answers.com is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2007. FAQ Farm generates some 12 million page and has approximately 280,000 unique questions and answers on its Web site. There are also over 100,000 registered “FAQ Farmer” contributors. The company was started in 2002 by Chris Whitten who saw the Wiki model as a way to provide an information resource without the same questions being asked repetitively and let users work collaboratively to expand and improve answers. Whitten will stay on as part of the Answers.com management team. CEO Rosenschein told internetnews.com at the Web 2.0 Summit here.
