Answers.com Acquires FAQ Farm

Today, FAQ Farm was acquired by Answers.com for $2 million in cash, which equates to a multiple of 5x revenue. Interesting site that FAQ Farm is and certainly grew fast from a 2002 launch.

Couple notes from their release:

FAQ Farm was founded in 2002 by Chris Whitten, a pioneer in the Q&A arena, who realized that the wiki model could be used to prevent the same questions from being asked repetitively, and enable answers to be improved upon collaboratively so that they combine different people's perspectives and experience. Chris will continue to oversee and improve FAQ Farm, and will integrate the site's content and technology into Answers.com while adding the authoritative sources of Answers.com to FAQ Farm.

"FAQ Farm will complement our encyclo diction almanac apedia of nearly four million topics by allowing users to ask questions or look up related answers on a specific Answers topic," continued Rosenschein, "An interactive relationship can tap into the wisdom of many people and enable them to become part of something bigger."

The popularity and success of the wiki platform is based on several elements that set it apart from other modes of communication. First, participants require little or no technical expertise to participate in the community. In addition, wiki entries are "organic" as the content is continually enhanced: When new information becomes available, an existing topic is edited and improved as opposed to being left outdated, incorrect, or contradictory.

Amazing how popular this Wiki platform is. And while many don't think you can generate revenue from it, this acquisition shows you can.