Hitwise: Question/Answer website business is booming

Advertisers may want to pay a little more attention to those question and answer websites. According to a new report from Hitwise, visits to Q&A websites increase by nearly 120% between March 17, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

by Kristina Knight

From 2006 through 2008, these site vists increased by more than 800%.

"Online users are increasingly seeking advice from question and answer websites that leverage shared knowledge contributed across a community of experts and enthusiasts," said Heather Dougherty, research director, Hitwise. "The popularity of user generated media has helped to establish a category for social knowledge where consumers can obtain answers from a single aggregated source developed through others asking similar questions."

The hottest Q&A website is Yahoo Answers (74% share). This is actually a decrease as the site held a 90% share in 2007, however more question and answer sites have launched, driving more competition in the market. Next are WikiAnswers (18%) share, AnswerBag (4% share) and Ask MetaFilter (1% share).

Most Q&A website visits are made by females (more than 50%); most of the women from 35-44 years of age but younger consumers (24-35 years of age) are logging on as well. This makes Q&A website visitors a sought after user base. On average visitors spend just under 10 minutes on-site.

Though Yahoo Answers has the highest share, it appears that users are not loyal to one answer website. Most than half of site visits to each of the top 5 Q&A websites are new visitors.