Blurtit
Encyclopedia
Blurtit is a Q&A
website
where people ask questions and a community of regular users provide answers based on their knowledge or opinions. Blurtit was founded in 2006, and is based in Norwich
in Norfolk
, UK
Blurtit resembles a social media
site opposed to an information reference site. Contributors are encouraged to enter multi–user discussions and to voice opinions about the questions placed. Questions are typically in the long tail of internet search in that they have a large number of keywords, produce limited results on a search engine
, and as such require a human to answer them. Blurtit covers a diverse range of subjects including social and spiritual matters.
advertising rates and affiliate marketing.
By 2008 Blurtit became the company's main source of income. The increase in online traffic mirrored that of peers JustAnswer
, Answers.com
, Answerbag
and Yahoo Answers. Blurtit's income source is generated solely by contextual advertising
that corresponds to the topics being discussed on the site itself.
In 2009 Blurtit started working on the development phase of Qhub, a tool for both experts and novice users with a passion for a particular subject to help them set up their own dedicated Q & A forum . This development was part of the online movement where internet users are generating content. It is similar to other online services, such as Squidoo
(articles), Wordpress
(blogs) and SocialGO
(social networks). All of them help people set up their own websites without the necessity of having a high level of technical knowledge. Qhub was officially launched in January 2010, but subsequently ceased operations after a brief trial run in June 2011.
In September 2010, Blurtit averaged 12.5 million visitors a month and, as of May 2011, had in the region of 2 million questions. However, over the course of the next few months, the site merged, quality-controlled and retired some questions so that, as at July 2011, currently there are around 600,000 questions. . Also in September 2010, the company renamed itself Blurtit Limited and exited all non Q&A operations.
Knowledge market
A knowledge market is a mechanism for distributing knowledge resources. There are two views on knowledge and how knowledge markets can function. One view uses a legal construct of intellectual property to make knowledge a typical scarce resource, so the traditional commodity market mechanism can be...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
where people ask questions and a community of regular users provide answers based on their knowledge or opinions. Blurtit was founded in 2006, and is based in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, UK
Blurtit resembles a social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
site opposed to an information reference site. Contributors are encouraged to enter multi–user discussions and to voice opinions about the questions placed. Questions are typically in the long tail of internet search in that they have a large number of keywords, produce limited results on a search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
, and as such require a human to answer them. Blurtit covers a diverse range of subjects including social and spiritual matters.
History
Tim O’Shea and Chris Lee created and launched Blurtit in 2006 as a new venture in their company, Mindcom Internet Limited. Originally it was intended as an experiment to gauge whether a social based Q & A model would be an effective internet traffic generator. Until then Mindcom's revenue was derived from arbitrage of pay per clickPay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
advertising rates and affiliate marketing.
By 2008 Blurtit became the company's main source of income. The increase in online traffic mirrored that of peers JustAnswer
JustAnswer
JustAnswer is an online expert question and answer website that connects visitors with verified experts in several categories including medical, legal, automotive, veterinary, and tech support...
, Answers.com
Answers.com
Answers.com is an Internet-based knowledge exchange, which includes WikiAnswers, ReferenceAnswers, VideoAnswers, and five international language Q&A communities. The Answers.com domain name was purchased by Bill Gross and Henrik Jones at idealab in 1996. The domain name was acquired by NetShepard...
, Answerbag
Answerbag
Answerbag is a collaborative online database of FAQs, where questions are asked and answered by users. Instead of the one question—one answer model, multiple answers to a given question are presented, in descending order of user ratings. As of December 2006, Answerbag was the second largest...
and Yahoo Answers. Blurtit's income source is generated solely by contextual advertising
Contextual advertising
Contextual advertising is a form of targeted advertising for advertisements appearing on websites or other media, such as content displayed in mobile browsers...
that corresponds to the topics being discussed on the site itself.
In 2009 Blurtit started working on the development phase of Qhub, a tool for both experts and novice users with a passion for a particular subject to help them set up their own dedicated Q & A forum . This development was part of the online movement where internet users are generating content. It is similar to other online services, such as Squidoo
Squidoo
Squidoo is a community website that allows users to create pages for subjects of interest. Squidoo had 1.5 million hand-built lenses .-History:Development on Squidoo started in 2005, launching a beta testing period in October of that year...
(articles), Wordpress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
(blogs) and SocialGO
SocialGO
SocialGO is a British company producing a social network builder that allows users to build an online community for a group, business or interest. Founded in June 2007, SocialGO was co-founded by Alex Halliday, Steve Hardman, and Dominic Wheatley...
(social networks). All of them help people set up their own websites without the necessity of having a high level of technical knowledge. Qhub was officially launched in January 2010, but subsequently ceased operations after a brief trial run in June 2011.
In September 2010, Blurtit averaged 12.5 million visitors a month and, as of May 2011, had in the region of 2 million questions. However, over the course of the next few months, the site merged, quality-controlled and retired some questions so that, as at July 2011, currently there are around 600,000 questions. . Also in September 2010, the company renamed itself Blurtit Limited and exited all non Q&A operations.