Amazon developing its own Q&A site
Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Amazon is working on a Web site called "Askville" that lets people ask questions and get answers from other people, according to a posting on the Overstated blog. The posting shows excerpts from an e-mail invitation sent to Amazon customers that says Askville users will be rewarded for asking and answering questions with a virtual currency called "coins." The coins will be redeemable in another community Amazon expects to open up next year called "Questville." Askville is open by invitation only right now. It will compete with established Q&A sites operated by Yahoo, Microsoft and others. An Amazon spokesman did not immediately return a call or e-mail seeking comment.