ChaCha is a search engine that pays human "guides" to answer questions for users. This is a technique known as social searching. ChaCha was created by Scott A. Jones, inventor and entrepreneur, and Brad Bostic, the chairman of Bostech Corporation. ChaCha is based in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis.

The alpha version of the search engine was launched on September 1, 2006. A beta version was introduced on November 6, 2006. The service achieved 20,000 guides by year end. ChaCha also raised $6 million in development funds, including support from Bezos Expeditions, a personal investment firm owned by Jeff Bezos, the entrepreneur behind Amazon.com

The guide-less search function is based around the idea that the system will learn from the acquired results through storing the best-rated search results and providing the same results for similar searches in the future. Users report various levels of satisfaction with the guided search at this time.

ChaCha now requires users to register with ChaCha to use the guide search feature.

textChaCha

On January 3, 2008 ChaCha launched a new textChaCha service. People can text a question to 242 242 (Cha Cha on your phone keypad) and a ChaCha guide will text back an accurate and prompt answer. Unlike similar mobile search services ChaCha doesn't require special character codes to get results. A plain sentence question will get an answer along with a link to the answer source.

callChaCha

ChaCha is planning to release its next phase of development. It is currently undergoing testing for voice queries where a user would call and ask a question in a voicemail and ChaCha will respond with an answer in a text message. callChaCha is planning to undergo full release in March, 2008.

Also see

Mobile search

Human-based computation

Guides

A ChaCha guide is a person who signs up with ChaCha to make money by finding things for others through the ChaCha service. To become a guide, a person can apply on the website or be invited by a guide who has reached the master level. Guides note their areas of expertise or interest, and searches are directed based on these keywords as well as user ratings. Guides have access to three special areas of chacha.com not normally accessible to the public. The "Underground" as it is called allows guides to maintain profiles and communicate with other guides. The forums are for suggestions and problems with Chacha. Finally, the Knowledge Base (or KB) contains dozens of articles useful for guides.