Source: home.businesswire.com

ChaCha, which describes itself as "the world’s largest live search engine," is now available in beta form. The interesting feature is the defining one - ChaCha can supply "a human guide who assists you in real-time via an instant-message chat."

"Even expert searchers don’t always have the answers," reasoned CEO Scott A. Jones. "ChaCha’s search-with-a-guide process connects you to a live person who has knowledge about your particular topic and who knows the best resources on the web for that topic."

When "human-powered" search engine ChaCha launched in September it was a great idea with very flawed execution. The site offers algorithmic search, but also IM-chat based search with actual people in real time.  Today, the site has gone from "alpha" to "beta" based on lessons learned during the alpha period. And it appears from casual searching there have been some significant improvements.

According to the press release issued today, "Since launching the experimental Alpha version in September 2006, more than 14,000 people have entered the system to serve as ChaCha guides with as many as 1,500 guides being added on any given day. The fast-growing guide community has been instrumental in ChaCha’s accelerated Beta development, as they have been working around the clock to help end users find information online."

ChaCha is the first search engine to offer two options for searching – with a human guide who assists you in real-time via an instant-message chat or without a guide resulting in immediate search results. By also being the first search engine to use live guides and accumulate their search results, ChaCha is able to provide the most relevant, targeted results through both of its search options. ChaCha’s Beta version improves upon its Alpha version by featuring improved system capacity, thousands more guides, an even deeper knowledge pool and millions of indexed previous search results. Essentially, ChaCha gets smarter with every search.

“ChaCha is for everyone – from the novice searcher to the most experienced,” said CEO Scott A. Jones. “Even expert searchers don’t always have all the answers. For instance, say someone wanted to buy his or her teenager a new game for the holidays but didn’t know what game was ‘hip.’ Well, on ChaCha, one could be connected to a real-life gamer whose expertise and knowledge are perfectly suited for that query. The guide not only helps find the perfect game, but even sends links of where to buy it.”

“ChaCha’s search-with-a-guide process connects you to a live person who has knowledge about your particular topic and who knows the best resources on the web for that topic, as well as the right search keywords,” said President Brad Bostic. “The ChaCha guide then sends you highly relevant links via an instant online chat session and follows up to make certain the results are just what you wanted.”

ChaCha guides are rated by end users and are paid accordingly, encouraging guides to deliver fast, relevant results. Guides can even take advantage of a groundbreaking instant-payment system developed by ChaCha to provide immediate rewards.

In addition to providing a flexible work-at-home job for its guides, ChaCha offers its users an easier way to find information online. Unlike traditional search engines, ChaCha does not require users to understand Boolean operators and other complexities of searching in order to receive optimal results.

The incorporation of human intelligence into the search process is quite beneficial, particularly when an ambiguous word is used in the search query. For example, searching for information on “apple” with a traditional search engine produces a wide variety of results, from the fruit to The Beatles’ record label. On ChaCha, a search for information on “apple” would prompt the guide to clarify what type of apple information the user is seeking. The guide would then search only for that specific information and thus would deliver only the most appropriate links.

“For many Internet users, the results derived from traditional search engines are less than satisfactory, as many in the industry note frequently,” said Jones. “With ChaCha, our guides know how to zip through millions of possible results to find the exact information you’re seeking.”

ChaCha is free to consumers because it is supported by advertising.

For more information or to “ChaCha” your next search query, try ChaCha’s Beta version at www.chacha.com.

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