<P> Answers.com is an Internet - based knowledge exchange, which includes WikiAnswers, ReferenceAnswers, VideoAnswers, and five international language Q&A communities . The Answers.com domain name was purchased by entrepreneurs Bill Gross and Henrik Jones at idealab in 1996 . The domain name was acquired by NetShepard and subsequently sold to GuruNet . The website is the primary product of the Answers Corporation (previously GuruNet), an Internet reference and Q&A company, founded by Bob Rosenschein, Mark Tebbe and Mort Meyerson in 1999 . The site supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Tagalog . WikiAnswers is a community - generated social knowledge Q&A platform, using wiki - based technologies . </P> <P> GuruNet was founded in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1999 to develop technology that intelligently and automatically integrates and retrieves information from disparate sources and delivers the result in a single consolidated view to the user . GuruNet initially displayed its information through a downloadable software product, today known as 1 - Click Answers . The product was launched as a free product in 1999 . Beginning in 2003 it was sold to users on a perpetual license base and later as an annual subscription . </P> <P> On October 2004 GuruNet had an IPO on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) under the symbol "GRU" and also acquired the Answers.com domain name early the same year for $80,000 . </P> <P> On January 2005 the company moved to a new business model of a free - to - customer product, Answers.com and 1 - Click Answers software, containing practically all the content that was sold via subscriptions . The new model is based on generating advertising revenue . </P>

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