<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
was	O
a	O
social	O
search	O
service	O
that	O
connected	O
users	O
live	O
with	O
friends	O
or	O
friends-of-friends	O
who	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
answer	O
their	O
questions	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
knowledge	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
submitted	O
questions	O
via	O
the	O
Aardvark	B-Application
website	O
,	O
email	O
or	O
instant	O
messenger	O
and	O
Aardvark	B-Application
identified	O
and	O
facilitated	O
a	O
live	O
chat	O
or	O
email	O
conversation	O
with	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
topic	O
experts	O
in	O
the	O
'	O
askers	O
 '	O
extended	O
social	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
was	O
used	O
for	O
asking	O
subjective	O
questions	O
for	O
which	O
human	O
judgment	O
or	O
recommendation	O
was	O
desired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
could	O
also	O
review	O
question	O
and	O
answer	O
history	O
and	O
other	O
settings	O
on	O
the	O
Aardvark	B-Application
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
acquired	O
Aardvark	B-Application
for	O
$50	O
million	O
on	O
February	O
11	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2011	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
it	O
would	O
discontinue	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
its	O
products	O
,	O
including	O
Aardvark	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
The	O
Mechanical	O
Zoo	O
,	O
a	O
San	O
Francisco-based	O
startup	O
founded	O
in	O
2007	O
by	O
Max	O
Ventilla	O
,	O
Nathan	O
Stoll	O
(	O
both	O
former	O
Google	B-Application
employees	O
)	O
,	O
Damon	O
Horowitz	O
and	O
Rob	O
Spiro	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
prototype	O
version	O
of	O
Aardvark	B-Application
was	O
launched	O
in	O
early	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
March	O
2009	O
,	O
although	O
initially	O
new	O
users	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
invited	O
by	O
existing	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
Mechanical	O
Zoo	O
was	O
chosen	O
in	O
homage	O
to	O
the	O
machine-like	O
aspect	O
of	O
its	O
applications	O
,	O
including	O
Aardvark	B-Application
and	O
other	O
animal-named	O
products	O
that	O
were	O
intended	O
for	O
future	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
user	O
joined	O
Aardvark	B-Application
,	O
aardvark	B-Application
was	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
IM	O
buddylist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
guided	O
the	O
user	O
through	O
the	O
question	O
process	O
by	O
providing	O
messages	O
that	O
confirmed	O
receipt	O
of	O
the	O
question	O
and	O
explained	O
any	O
actions	O
required	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
two	O
main	O
interaction	O
flows	O
available	O
in	O
Aardvark	B-Application
for	O
answering	O
a	O
question	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
flow	O
involved	O
Aardvark	B-Application
sending	O
a	O
message	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
(	O
via	O
IM	O
,	O
email	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Periodically	O
,	O
Aardvark	B-Application
contacted	O
users	O
via	O
email	O
or	O
IM	O
when	O
it	O
believed	O
they	O
were	O
well-suited	O
to	O
answer	O
another	O
user	O
's	O
question	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
searched	O
through	O
one	O
's	O
friends	O
and	O
friends	O
 '	O
friends	O
also	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Aardvark	B-Application
sent	O
a	O
question	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
responded	O
affirmatively	O
,	O
Aardvark	B-Application
relayed	O
the	O
question	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
questioner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
sent	O
such	O
requests	O
for	O
answers	O
less	O
than	O
once	O
a	O
day	O
to	O
a	O
given	O
user	O
(	O
and	O
users	O
could	O
easily	O
change	O
contact	O
settings	O
,	O
specify	O
preferred	O
frequency	O
and	O
time	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
for	O
such	O
requests	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aardvark	B-Application
supported	O
Google	B-Application
Talk	O
,	O
Windows	O
Live	O
Messenger	O
,	O
AOL	O
Instant	O
Messenger	O
and	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
secondary	O
flow	O
of	O
answering	O
questions	O
was	O
more	O
similar	O
to	O
traditional	O
bulletin-board	O
style	O
interactions	O
:	O
a	O
user	O
sent	O
a	O
message	O
to	O
Aardvark	B-Application
or	O
visited	O
the	O
"	O
Answering	O
"	O
tab	O
of	O
the	O
website	O
,	O
Aardvark	B-Application
showed	O
the	O
user	O
a	O
recent	O
question	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
network	O
which	O
had	O
not	O
yet	O
been	O
answered	O
and	O
which	O
was	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
profile	O
topics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
interfaces	O
,	O
wrappers	O
around	O
messages	O
from	O
another	O
user	O
included	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
facilitate	O
trust	O
:	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
real	O
name	O
,	O
age	O
,	O
gender	O
,	O
the	O
social	O
connection	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
users	O
,	O
a	O
section	O
of	O
topics	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
expertise	O
in	O
,	O
and	O
summary	O
statistics	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
activity	O
on	O
Aardvark	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Mechanical	O
Zoo	O
was	O
privately	O
held	O
,	O
prior	O
to	O
acquisition	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
