Google has developed tons of services and some of them are very valuable but not as widely used, Google Moderator is one of them. It is a very straight forward, easy-to-use service that allows a group of people to brainstorm, share ideas, questions, and opinions.

Google Moderator is more powerful than Google form in many cases because it allows participants to vote on other people’s ideas/ questions. Barack Obama’s transition team created a public Google Moderator series called “Open for Questions” which allows people to ask questions, give suggestions, as well as voting for the best ones.

How I’ve used Google Moderator:

Ask people to submit questions during a presentation

Send out a brainstorming session to colleagues

Venue ideas and voting for events

Live questions and responses during a webinar

Below is the official description of Google Moderator:

• Let your audience decide. Get to know your audience by letting them decide which questions, suggestions or ideas interest them most.

• Everyone’s voice is heard. The voting box at the top of page focuses attention on submissions recently added and on the rise, making it simple and easy to participate.

• Be creative. Include people in your preparation for lectures, interviews and hard decisions or work together to organize feature requests and brainstorm new ideas.

Google Moderator Homepage