Disclosed is a method and system for ranking answers supplied by user authors in an online database. A first author enters a first answer under a question. The answer is ranked #1 for output under that question. Then a second author enters a second answer under the same question. The second author also enters a bet claiming that her answer is better than the first answer. If the first author declines the bet, the second answer becomes ranked #1 for output under the question. If the first author accepts the bet, the bet is decided by a judge. The judge enters her decision into the answer database system.