Answer Aggregators - the Rules of the Game
Answer Aggregator is a new
type of Answer Engine. Answer Aggregator provides a systematic
way to collect links to existing on-line resources that can be
used for answering questions and maintains "mapping" of
Questions into Answers.
In order to make the content of a website accessible to Answer
Aggregator, all the webmaster has to do is to list the pages
together with the corresponding Questions in a file called
SYNDICATE.TXT (located in the root directory) and submit the URL
of this SYNDICATE.TXT file to an Answer Aggregator. If found
acceptable, the links listed will be included into the database
which the Answer Aggregator uses to match answers to the
questions people ask.
Another file read by Answer Aggregate's robot is NOMINATE.TXT,
where a webmaster can include the resources he recommends that
are found on other syndicated websites. The NOMINATE.TXT is
rated for appropriateness, quality, and relevance of its
recommendations and the Authority Rank is assigned to it.
Listing a page in SYNDICATE.TXT or NOMINATE.TXT is just a
proposal. An Answer Aggregate may decide to reject any content
for any reason. In particular, the syndicated pages must be
appropriate for all age groups, including children who use the
Question Answer Engines for their school papers and research.
Answer Aggregates may use natuaral language technology in order
to expand the number of supported Questions. Advanced Lingusitic
Technology is the key component of Answer Aggregates, which
enables the expansion of the number of supported Questions. Most
importantly, this task of discerning which Question Templates
are equivalent to each other is doable using current Linguistic
Technology, and there is no need to wait for further progress in
the field.