I just recently discovered the social search service, Aardvark, after a mention of their new iPhone app on a technology blog. Any iPhone app that sends push notifications gets my initial attention, and so I decided to check it out.
I created an Aardvark account on their website, installed the app on my iPhone, and asked my first question, which admittedly was pretty lame – but it was more to test the service than to get a real answer.
What surprised me, however, was how quickly I got an answer, as a push notification to my iPhone, and also how accurate and useful the answer was. I was definitely impressed so far. Would Aardvark continue to impress me?
After receiving a very good answer to my initial question, that was again just to test out how this social service worked, I decided to delve into Aardvark a little more to see what all it was about.
The service uses details you specify in your account profile to match you up with questions others are asking in your field of expertise, if you should choose to be an answerer. Aardvark can send you questions to answer via IM (I’ve successfully used the service with my Google Talk account) and iPhone push alerts. You can choose to answer or ignore, and the service will move on to someone else to find an anwer.
When you pose a question, Aardvark takes keywords from your question to identify a topic, and then selects answerers who specialize in that topic. They boast that most questions can be answered within 5 minutes. In each of my tests, each question was answered, from more than one respondent, in less than five minutes. In one instance, the first response came in under one minute.
The Aardvark iPhone app is easy to navigate, fast to load, and allows you to quickly ask a question about anything you need an answer to. You can choose how to be notified of an answer, and then you submit it. Once Aardvark has found you an answer, they will notify you via your preferred method(s). If the response you receive is sufficient, you can respond with a “thanks,” or you can re-submit your question for another answer from someone else.
There really is no limit on topics, as every one who joins Aardvark will have unique knowledge bases and specialties. For instance, I’ve listed “iPhones,” “Mac OSX,” and “blogging” as my three specialties. Consequently, when someone poses a question in one of those topics, I can be notified and asked if I have an answer. I’ve told Aardvark I’d like to be asked “no more than a couple times a day,” and not at all when my IM status is “busy.”
I can say that I am surprised that I’d never heard of Aardvark before, and also disappointed that I haven’t signed up before now. There are obviously plenty of times when I have questions that those in my immediate group of co-workers, friends, or family don’t know the answer to, and I don’t always get a solid response when I post a bizarre question on Twitter.
Now that I have Aardvark on my iPhone, on my Mac, and in my IM, there will hardly be a question I can’t find an answer to within just a few minutes. If you haven’t yet given Aardvark a look, I suggest you check it out.
The service is free, and links to your Facebook and/or Twitter account to share your questions and answers with your friends. The iPhone app is also free and includes push notifications. You can sign up for Aardvark on their website here, and then download the app in the iPhone App Store here.
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