HubPages Launches Yahoo Answers Rival

Hub Pages, the online publishing community, has added a Q&A feature to its site today, entitled HubPages Requests.

I saw the "Hub Pages Requests" this morning; I didn't realize it is a new feature until I read more from other sites. Mashable.com says it is modeled after Yahoo Answers. How it works? Any user can request the Hubber with the "Hub Pages Requests" and can pose a question to the Hubber. The Hubber can then write an entire article describing the answers, offering their expertise and knowledge they have. They can enhance the article with images, videos, just like the regular Hub article one writes at Hubpages.com.

Users can leave requests too, and browsing options let you search for more answers based on popularity, or those that have been recommended for you, among other factors.

I like that the Requests feature has been fully integrated into the HubPages service, fitting it seamlessly with the look and functionality of the site. The biggest downside to having Requests format set up in this manner is the loss of conversation that can occur amongst users around one question. It would be nice to search specifically for Requests, though, instead of performing a general site search where HubPages entries are included in the results as well.

What do you think about this new idea, "Hub Pages Requests"?