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    Yes, but in many cases, Google already has a definitive answer as the first result. In fact, in many cases, it links to a better, more authoritative source. Commented Sep 19, 2008 at 19:25
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    Sorry - I don't read neither Joel nor Jeff's blog, so I did not had the meta-information beforehand. Since the problem is existing just claiming that by design it is no problem is not helpful. (just my two cents): Commented Sep 19, 2008 at 19:26
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    I'd like to add: I thought this site is based on the tradition that coders help each other regardless if they work in different companies or not. If the driving force is to provide google with better material to get better hits, then SO is most likely not my cup of tea. Commented Sep 19, 2008 at 19:37
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    Let's be fair - it's search engine agnostic. Commented Sep 19, 2008 at 19:56
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    I also vote that we would rather link directly to the good answer than say "just search for it". When a teacher tells you that you've asked an easy question and to read the book, it mostly just makes a student feel bad. A link to the actual answer is more helpful, constructive, and nicer. Commented Sep 19, 2008 at 23:30
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    BTW, this site has become extremely Googlable. Some of my questions are now #1 on Google results. So it IS very useful if simple questions then have a link to the answers, if for no other reason than it helps the answer'S PageRank. Commented Oct 20, 2008 at 10:25
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    whenever someone has a tech question, they can be lead to stackoverflow, where they will see a list of links to information that was voted on to determine the most helpful. The users found what they needed even faster, the sites with the actual information still can be linked to, and Stackoverflow gets some traffic. Everybody wins. :D Commented Oct 28, 2009 at 1:54
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    @Jim, Catch-22. How would you know that there is no "better, more authoritative source" than the first result Google gives? And how would you know that there are no errors/bugs within that source? The only way to know that is to have a public forum or dialogue where anyone can post answer/comments without registration. A webpage that offers mere one-way communication can never be a "better, more authoritative source" than one which offers two-way communication. Commented Feb 16, 2016 at 10:12