Google的OneBox在结果页里排在“第0位”，里面有多种服务，Q&A也是其中之一。官方帮助很简单，说明这是一种基于事实（fact-based）的问答服务，Google会在搜索结果之上列出答案及其信息来源。怎么玩，可以看看“《55种用Google找乐子的方法》-16-Google你问我答”。

Q1：中国人口

在Google中查询“population of China”，OneBox里得到人口数为“1,306,313,812”（见下），来源是CIA网站（点击进入后可知CIA的factbook网址已改；发现不仅Yahoo!有各国的World Factbook，CIA也有各国的factbook）。

China - Population: 1,306,313,812 According to http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html - More sources

在百度知道里查询“中国人口”，前十个结果中有两个提到13亿人。在爱问的知识人里查询“中国人口”，前十个结果中有三个有中国人口数。在雅虎中国知识堂里查询“中国人口”，前十个结果中有三个有中国人口数。

Q2：爱因斯坦出生地

在Google中查询“Albert Einstein birthplace”，OneBox里得到“Albert Einstein - Place of Birth: Ulm, Germany”。在百度知道里查“爱因斯坦出生地”，有两个给出了“乌尔姆”。在爱问的知识人里查询“爱因斯坦出生地”，没有得到正确结果。在雅虎中国的知识堂里查询“爱因斯坦出生地”，也没有得到正确结果。

Q3：爱因斯坦生日

在Google中查“Albert Einstein birthday”得到“Albert Einstein - Date of Birth: 14 March 1879”。在百度知道、爱问知识人、雅虎中国知识堂里查“爱因斯坦生日”，也都可以得到正确结果。

《Behind Google Q&A》里提到了一些Google对此所做的人工智能努力，从大量网页语料中，提取出用户所需要的事实作为Q&A的答案。Google没有采用预先定义的模式（pattern），而是从大量的例子中发现模式，并依据模式的匹配提取数据（见该帖中的两张图）。

机器与人肉，智能化算法与社会化共享。还和需求的类型有关，事实、经验、主题等。

中秋快乐
Originally uploaded by Fenng(Refer).

Posted by Bret Taylor, Senior Product Manager



Today we launched Google Code Search, which gives programmers a single place to search publicly accessible source code. I am really excited about this launch, as it caps off a long sequence of Google product launches for developers in the past year, including Google Maps API v2, Google Calendar API, Google Web Toolkit, Google AJAX Search API, Google Checkout API, project hosting on Google Code, Google Base API, and Google Gadgets for Your Page. Google's developer team is focused on building tools that help developers extend and improve Google's products and improve their own applications, and we are really excited to see all the amazing things that have been created already (traffic map for your Google homepage, anyone?).



The success of the Google Maps API taught us that an API doesn't need to be complex to be powerful, and that principle has formed the basis of our API design. If you haven't seen how far cut-and-paste can get you, check out the list of sample applications we've published for the AJAX Search API. Or check out the Google Calendar API examples; to get a feed of your calendar entries, you just need to fetch a single URL from Google's servers.



We have also launched a number of general-purpose developer and open-source tools like Google Web Toolkit and project hosting on Google Code. Our view is what's good for the web is good for Google -- we want users to have the best online experience possible, and we hope these tools will help developers create compelling applications for their users.



So if you haven't been to Google Code lately, check it out. We are continuously adding useful tools to our suite of developer products, and it's a great way to leverage the power of Google's infrastructure in your own projects.