The potential move from search to question answering (QA) ignited the question of how should the move from sponsored search to sponsored QA look like. We present the first formal analysis of a sponsored QA platform. The platform fuses an organic answer to a question with an ad to produce a so called {\em sponsored answer}. Advertisers then bid on their sponsored answers. Inspired by Generalized Second Price Auctions (GSPs), the QA platform selects the winning advertiser, sets the payment she pays, and shows the user the sponsored answer. We prove an array of results. For example, advertisers are incentivized to be truthful in their bids; i.e., set them to their true value of the sponsored answer. The resultant setting is stable with properties of VCG auctions.

翻译：从搜索向问答（QA）的潜在转变引发了如何实现从赞助搜索向赞助QA过渡的问题。本文首次对赞助式问答平台进行了形式化分析。该平台将问题的有机答案与广告融合，生成所谓的"赞助答案"。广告商随后对其赞助答案进行竞价。受广义第二价格拍卖（GSP）启发，问答平台选择获胜广告商，设定其支付金额，并向用户展示赞助答案。我们证明了一系列结果。例如，广告商有动机真实报价（即将其设定为赞助答案的真实价值）。由此产生的机制具有稳定性，并具备VCG拍卖的特性。