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ChaCha Search Engine

Posted by Marios Alexandrou, SEO Resume.

If I told you that I had an idea for a new search engine that would dethrone Google, you'd probably dismiss me without a second thought. But what if the idea was instead coming from the guy that created the digital voice mail system now used by half a billion people AND built the CDDB database that now feeds song info into iTunes and other music players, would you still dismiss the comment?

Enter Scott Jones. Right of the bat he'll tell you that, "It takes Google two-tenths of a second to show you a page of results, but on average it takes people 11 minutes to find what they want." That kind of takes the shine off of the Google apple. Jones' solution, the ChaCha Search Engine, is an elaborate network of technology and people that work together to interactively guide a searcher. If you initiate as search with some ambiguity in it, a pop-up window will appear allowing you to interact with an actual person who will pose questions and lead you to the appropriate result. This search

To pay for this network of people, ChaCha will display targeted video ads to users while the human searcher is digging around for answers. In a nod to the power of viral marketing, Jones is working on setting up an MLM-like system where if an employee signs up someone else to help with searches, they will get a piece of their earnings. So far there the beta system has enlisted the help of 2500 guides — college students, retirees, stay-at-home moms. Although not all the details are available, ChaCha, according to SearchEngineWatch, "Has developed financial and ego-based incentives to recruit and retain guides and various mechanisms to help maximize the quality of their results."

I think this idea holds merit. If we put aside the obvious issues of how to scale to meet demand, it does strike me like a service that a certain segment of the search market would like. At the same time, I think that after the initial hype, the power searchers out there will return to Google. I know that I often learn a lot during my searches and it'd be a shame to give up that learning just to save 5 minutes.

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One Response to “ChaCha Search Engine”

Charles Knight says:

My name is Charles Knight, an SEO in Charlottesville VA. I created the Top 100 Search Engines for 2006 list, and I picked ChaCha as the #1 Search Engine of the Year for 2006. Later, I became a ChaCha search Guide.

Now my list is The Top 100 Alternative* Search Engines (*alternatives to Google). If anyone would like a copy of The Top 100 coolest Search Engines out there, just email me your request at: Charles@CharlesKnightSEO.com