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November 12, 2007 5:25 AM PST

AOL acquires question-and-answer service Yedda

Posted by Caroline McCarthy
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Time Warner unit AOL announced early Monday morning that it has acquired Yedda, a question-and-answer start-up that was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2006. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition, according to a release from AOL, was all about Yedda's code: the patent-pending semantic technology "automatically matches questions to other related questions and topics, while selecting the best available users to answer the question." Yedda-powered features are set to begin appearing on AOL's sites over the next few months.

AOL makes plenty of acquisitions, but most of the recent ones have been directly related to its renewed role as an advertising-focused media company. Last week, the company, which recently decided to move its headquarters to New York, purchased advertising-technology company Quigo, and in the spring, it acquired cell phone advertising firm Third Screen Media.

Questions spotted on Yedda, for the record, range from the practical to the bizarre--from "What was the name of the woman (model?) in the '80s video 'I Got My Mind Set On You" by George Harrison?" to "How can I install Boot Camp on an external drive?" to "How to build a barn owl cage?"

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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About The Social

CNET News' Caroline McCarthy is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. She's happily addicted to fun social-media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook, sends an inordinate number of text messages, and has a tendency to waste time at the office reading restaurant blogs. Here, she explores all facets of the Web's gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture in her home city of New York. (Don't call it Silicon Alley.)

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