Yahoo!Answers and Sainsburys

Yahoo! Answers UK and Ireland have struck a deal with Sainsburys for Sainsburys to sponsor the food and drink section:

Sainsbury’s to sponsor Yahoo! Answers

UK & Ireland has announced that it’s tied up with Sainsbury’s as the first global commercial sponsorship deal for its new Yahoo! Answers social search site.

The campaign will see Sainsbury’s sponsor the Food and Drink section of the site, where a new question will be posted each day under the heading ‘Daily Delicious’, covering a range of topics ranging from healthy eating to romantic meals.

The best answer to each question will be stored on the site as a resolved question, and a library of recipes and menu ideas will be also available for users to download.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to explore the commercial potential of Yahoo! Answers, but it’s important that consumers feel comfortable with this sponsorship. Sainsbury’s is a big, trusted brand and is entirely relevant to the Food and Drink section,” said Blake Chandlee, media sales director for Yahoo! UK and Ireland.

The campaign will run online from 13 September to 31 December 2006.

So immediately we have the question “If advertising is not allowed why was Sainsbury’s allowed top (sic) ask a question?” the best answer?

We are a cynical lot on here aren’t we! A trifle naive also. The whole thing is geared to profit. The information that is generated by your q&a’s is used by the operators to analyse for commercial purposes.If they deny it then this answer will go down the gurgler

The moderators closed the question. Which was about the worst thing they could do in my book, but it’s not uncommon.

Sponsored sites don’t work. Underwritten sites are the way to go. If you don’t believe me, go read that book Gonzo Marketing by the guy from Clue Train Manifesto. Its about 7 years old now, but he has a whole section on why online communities shouldn’t be sponsored, but underwritten. Yahoo! Answers are asking the right questions but only have about 2 out of 5 stars for their answer, IMHO.

Technorati Tags Online Communities, Sainsbury, Yahoo!Answers, Gonzo Marketing