Yahoo Answers is dead, but its weird and amusing legacy ...

What Yahoo Answers was supposed to be. When Yahoo launched its question-and-answer platform in 2005, becoming a mainstay of internet comedy wasn ... Top4thofJulySales Best4KProjectors 7EarlyPrimeDayDeals Wi-FiRangeExtenders MyFavoriteSummerGadgets CheapCarInsurance Target's4thofJulySale BestRunningEarbuds,Headphones Yourguidetoabetterfuture Culture InternetCulture YahooAnswersisdead,butitsweirdandamusinglegacyliveson WhatYahooAnswerswassupposedtobe,whatitbecame,andwhatremains. SeanBuckley May4,20211:36p.m.PT 4minread AngelaLang/CNET It'sover.OnMay4,YahooAnswerswentoffline,puttinganendtooneoftheweirdest,oldestandleastorganizedcommunitiesofcrowdsourcedquestionsandanswers.Thesite'sseeminglyendlessparadeofuser-submittedqueriesrangedfromintriguingthoughtexperiments(fromthelikesofStephenHawking,noless)totheabsurdityofsomeoneaskingthecommunity,"Whatdidmydadjustsaytome?"Whydoyouthinkanybodyontheinternetwouldknowthis? YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley YahooAnswersbecamenotoriousasahomeforaveryspecificbrandofchaos.Somequestionsbecamefamousmemesuntothemselves.Othersbecamestandardson"toptenfunniest"YahooAnswersquestions.ThecommunitybecamearichmineofmaterialforYouTubecomedians,evenPewDiePie.FamouspodcastersusedYahooAnswersasasourceforinspirationtoo:DissectingweirdquestionswasaregularsegmentonMyBrother,MyBrotherandMe. YahooAnswershadalegacy.Justnottheoneitwasdesignedtohave.WhatYahooAnswerswassupposedtobe WhenYahoolauncheditsquestion-and-answerplatformin2005,becomingamainstayofinternetcomedywasn'tpartoftheplan.Thecompanybilledtheserviceas"aplacewherepeoplecanaskeachotherquestionsonanytopic,andgetanswersbysharingfacts,opinionsandpersonalexperiences."Evenso,YahooAnswersdidn'texistforitsownsake--itwascreatedtohelpbolsterYahooSearchresults.  YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley ItcanbeeasytoforgethowinfluentialYahoooncewas.Itwasabigcompanywithsocialcommunities,email,directoriesand,ofcourse,thebiggestsearchengineintheworld.In2005,howeveritwasfacingfiercecompetition.ThehopewasthatYahooAnswerscouldmakethecompany'ssearchenginebetterbyofferingusersmillionsofcrowdsourcedanswerstoanyquestiontheymighthave. Atechsupportclassic. YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley "Longterm,Answershasthepotentialtoattractincrementalusers,increasetimespentontheYahoo!Platform,"LehmanBrothersanalystDouglasAnmuthtoldForbesshortlyaftertheservicelaunched,"andcreatemonetizationopportunitiesthroughadditionalsponsoredlinksandpageviews." YahooAnswerswasneverreallyabouttheanswers,whichcouldbewhytheservicewasbestknownforthequestionsitsusersasked. WhatYahooAnswersbecameRegardlessofwhatYahooAnswerswasdesignedtobe,it'sbestknownforthesurprisingandridiculousquestionspeopleaskedit.Infact,beforenewsbrokeoftheshutdown,mostsearchesforYahooAnswersonGoogle,YouTubeandotherplatformsbroughtbacklistsofabsurdandamusingponderings. TherearedozensofcomedyvideosmockingYahooAnswers'weirdestquestions,andteasingtheseoftentoo-personalquestionswillforeverbeapartoftheservice'slegacy.Despitethejokes,theplatformactuallygotkindofclosetowhatitwasdesignedtobe.Moreearnestsearchescouldleadyoutoawkward,butinnocentquestionsaboutgrowingupandhumandevelopment--possiblythequeriesofthosetooembarrassedtoasktheirparents.Lotsofuserswereseekinghouseholdrepairtipsandtechsupport. Somequestionswerejuststudentstryingtogettheinternetto"help"withtheirhomework.Whenyoureallydidn'tfeellikedoingyourownhomework,YahooAnswerswasthere. YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley AlthoughtheplatformwasdevisedtoaugmentYahoo'ssearchengine,thesite'sfeatureshelpeditfinditsownweirdidentityoncethatsearchabletroveofknowledgebecamelessofapriorityforthecompany.Questionaskerscouldpickthebestresponsetoanygivenquestion,whichwouldhelpthepersonwritingthatanswerearnpointstolevelupinaninternalrankingsystem.Thepointsandleveldidn'tactuallydoanything,butithelpedcreateasenseofcommunity.ThatsenseofcommunityisoneofthethingsthatmadeYahooAnswersinteresting.Whenitlaunchedinlate2005,itdebutedalongsidemanyoftoday'sinternetgiants.FacebookandRedditwerebothstillintheirinfancy,andTwitterwasonlymonthsaway.YahooAnswerswasn'tbuilttocompetewithanyofthesenetworks,butitfilledsomesimilarroles.Atatimewhenusersonlineweremovingawayfromtraditionalmessageboardsystemsandchatrooms,YahooAnswerswasthere--servingasahalf-stepbetweentheinternetcommunitiesofthelate1990sandthesocialmediaempiresthatwereabouttotakeovertheweb. YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley SomeYahooAnswersuserswerejusttryingtolearnaboutgrowingup. YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley It'soneaspectoftheservicethatsurvivedtotheend.BrowsingYahooAnswers'categoriesinitsfinaldaysstillsurfacedplentyofstandardquestionsseekinganswers("Canuwriteonmoney,"or"HowdoIgetagreasestainoutofconcrete"),butyoucouldalsofindthesamediscussionsyou'dexpectonReddit.Theserangefromnewparentsaskingintheparentingforumwhatpeoplethoughtofthenameoftheirchild,orpoliticalpartisansdebatingthelatestheadlinesinthepoliticsandnewssections. YahooAnswersandtheinternetafterlifeAfterMay4,theYahooquestion-and-answerservicewillgothewayofGeoCities.There'llbenoofficialattemptstopreserveorarchivetheservice.Unlessanoutsidegrouptakesaction,YahooAnswers'millionsofquestions--chaotic,hilariousandsublime--willbelosttotime.  YahooAnswersscreenshotbyCNET/SeanBuckley Fortunately,thisistheinternet,wherethere'salwayssomeonehappytopreserveabizarredatabaseofterriblespellingandweirdquestions--evenifitmightnotbeworthsaving.WhenYahooannounceditwasshuttingtheservicedown,Gizmodowrotethatitcreatedascriptthatwouldarchive84millionYahooAnswersquestionstotheInternetArchive,butadmittedthatitwouldtaketwoyearstocompletetheprocess.Fortunately,agroupcalledArchiveTeamstartedasimilarprojectbackin2016. AlargeportionofYahooAnswers'publiclyavailablequestionsarealreadybackedup,andtheteamhasmadearchivingtheresttheir"warriorproject"focusforspring2021.Forbetterorworse,YahooAnswers'weirdlegacywillbepreservedontheInternetArchive. Unfortunately,thearchivedpages'searchfunctiondoesn'tcurrentlywork,butatleastwe'llalwayshaveallthoseMBMBAMsegments.  GettheCNETCulturenewsletter Addyouremailaddress Exploremovies,games,superheroesandmorewithCNETCulture.DeliveredTuesdaysandFridays.