{"id":645498,"date":"2013-03-06T16:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=617373"},"modified":"2013-03-06T16:00:03","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T21:00:03","slug":"quora-keeps-searching-for-growth-this-time-with-user-generated-product-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/645498","title":{"rendered":"Quora keeps searching for growth, this time with user-generated product reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

In searching for a way to connect with users, some companies gear up for infrequent but splashy updates<\/a>, hoping that dramatic shifts will catch people’s attention. With Quora, the company is clearly trying a different tactic: roll out new features or products every month, and see what sticks.<\/p>\n

This month, the company is announcing a feature that will allow users to leave structured reviews (with a one star to five star rating), adding\u00a0structure\u00a0to\u00a0the traditional\u00a0feedback people leave on the Q&A site for products like books<\/a>, TV shows<\/a>, cars<\/a>, or tech hardware<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the past eight months we’ve seen the company launch embeddable threads<\/a>, an Android app<\/a>, designated power user status<\/a>, an “online now” feature<\/a>, a blogging platform<\/a>, and a\u00a0rich text editor for mobile<\/a>, to name a few. The company took an significant $50 million in venture funding last May<\/a>, and is clearly under a good deal of pressure to prove traction and adoption (landing it in hot water last month as a result<\/a>). So embracing a product-driven approach to growth is understandable.<\/p>\n

As with all of the company’s updates, the new review features attempts to highlight the quality the company is known for generating in its question and answer pages. Reviews would certainly make the site more even more SEO-friendly by surfacing reviews for popular shows like House of Cards when someone is Googling for information about the show. So it’s a natural progression for the company, although a review feature certainly isn’t unique to Quora.<\/p>\n

“I think the biggest benefit is that it provides structure and categorization to this type of knowledge,” said Quora’s Marc Bodnick<\/a>, who handles marketing for the company. He emphasized that Quora is not as interested in encouraging\u00a0reviews of local businesses or\u00a0restaurants, as sites like Yelp have a strong hold on that type of content. “The\u00a0big reason why we\u2019re excited to launch his product is to signal to readers and writers that there\u2019s one place to write this type of question. So we\u2019re hoping that if users think to themselves that if they want to write something about House of Cards, there will be a place to do that.”<\/p>\n

\"House<\/a><\/p>\n

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