Since the demise of Google Answers was announced, many have been asking questions.  What happened?  Why?  If you remember back, I thought Google was either conceding to Yahoo Answers or planning a re-release of a product based on Google Answers.  Since the announcement, Yahoo has stepped up and is offering asylum to the Google Answers experts who no longer have questions to answer.

In a post to the Yahoo Search Blog, Tomi Poutanen of Yahoo Social Search invited the former Google Answers Researchers to join Yahoo Answers and continue sharing their knowledge.  In addition to setting up a special Yahoo Group for former Google Researchers, Yahoo has extended a personal invitation to the Google Researchers to join them at a special Yahoo Answers get together on December 13, 2006.  The event is to be held at Yahoo’s campus in Sunnyvale, California.

On another front, Matt Cutts, of Google fame, comments on the closing of Google Answers and determines that it was the right choice to be made.  He mentions that old products often need “overhauls and rewrites” to stay competitive.  Maybe Google IS planning a re-launch of Google Answers in another form at another time.

Whatever the outcome, it’s good to know that the old Google Answer Researchers have a new home, if they want one.  And as usual, we’ll have to keep an eye on this one to see if something new comes out of it at a future date.