Paul Allen is testing out Google Answers:

"I'll report later on how this test goes. A recent article by Linda Arret in Info Today suggests that Google Answers is declining, not growing, and that other online reference services have not fared well.

'Few companies on the Web have more exposure or marketing clout than Google. Yet with over 200,000,000 searches per day, it never has attracted more than a couple of hundred questions per day to Google Answers and, in recent months, the average has dropped down to around 60-70. Granted, you do have to pay for the service, but at an average fee of $15- $20 hardly seems much of a barrier. However, the most compelling evidence that marketing can only help so much is the untimely demise of live reference services such as WebHelp and of the commercial reference market in general.'"

I also have found Google Answers very smart in the beginning but never came to grips with it. I never posted something although I have some thorny research issues I would love to source out. In effect we are having people in Asia doing some research for us but when using Google I simply don't want to wait. So in 99.9% I can find what I'm looking for by varying the search term a bit. So it's interesting that such a clever project has not taken off much.

But hell I just got an idea for another search that could be worthwhile...