I heard about chacha.com today, which is supposedly a search engine where your queries are actually sent to a real human being to sort out. I decided to give it a spin, here is my experience with chacha.com, told in its own words. Firstly I asked "I want to write about chacha.com in my blog, are there any press releases and stuff that I can quote?"
chacha.com then lets me rate the guide, naturally I rate KathyE as 'great'. If there were space for comments I may suggest that she cuts down on her use of exclamation marks! She was certainly more friendly than a Google search! Following the links she sent me I find:
ChaCha Search Inc., isn't banking on a computer being able to deduce meaning in search queries. That's why it hires "guides" -- a group of humans, 7,000 strong and growing, who put together customized results while chatting by instant message with the searcher.
Guides tell the ChaCha system what topics match their expertise. Once they complete some training, they get paid by the hour to produce what Scott Jones, the company's founder, hopes are more useful lists of links that include Web pages invisible to the average search engine.
In an interview, Jones said ChaCha stores the human-curated results, so that people searching related topics later will benefit from the work.
Still not completely convinced that this was all for real I asked Is chacha.com a scam?
OK so there probably are real people and not clever chatbots. To see how well the concept worked I asked a few questions I knew the answers to, but were easily googlable "What is the Cosmic Microwave Background?", "What are the different classifications of stars?" and "How do I make pancakes?". Each of these questions was answered quickly and a few relevant google links were sent my way. Before retiring for the night I decided to try and get them to give me a link to this blog, and asked How do I pick locks? The following conversation ensued:
Oh... Google has never treated me like that before. I hope her family is OK!
The guide she transferred me to did actually manage to send me a link to this blog! Finally I decided to do a couple of nonsensical questions, Can a walrus fly?
The guides also did a pretty good job of filtering nonsense requests out and not wasting too much time on them.
After a guide answers a question you are allowed to see their profile. Literally every single person I spoke to was a mid 30's SAHM (I assume this is stay at home mother). I guess $10 an hour at a job they can work any hours they want is really appealing to that demographic. Hell, if I were still at university then it'd be a useful way of making a bit of money.
All in all it seems that chacha.com would be very useful for those that struggle to filter through google results on their own (the elderly, perhaps, or maybe those that are new to the internet) and it is certainly an interesting concept, although none of the guides I met had any real specific knowledge and just seemed to return the top few google results for whatever I asked, so I wouldn't expect a decent answer for anything that google can't turn up within a page or so. This shortcoming may be alleviated with time as more and more guides sign up with differing areas of expertise.
Finally I found that you need be a little careful when asking controversial questions as the personal bias of the guide sometimes show through quite strongly. When I asked "Is there any evidence for a God?" I got back a stream of christian fundamentalist propaganda, and when I asked the same guide for more specific information on pagan gods they just gave up and transferred me to somebody else with no warning.
KathyE: Happy New Years!
You: That's very kind. You too!
KathyE: Thank you!
KathyE: Yes, there are some press lealses, let me find them for you.
KathyE: Just one moment!
*links to press releases appear in the window*
KathyE: Ok there you go!
KathyE: Is that what you were looking for there?
You: that is brilliant. Thank you very much
KathyE: You are so welcome!
You: have a nice evening
KathyE: you too thanks!
You: Bye
*SESSION ENDS*chacha.com then lets me rate the guide, naturally I rate KathyE as 'great'. If there were space for comments I may suggest that she cuts down on her use of exclamation marks! She was certainly more friendly than a Google search! Following the links she sent me I find:
ChaCha Search Inc., isn't banking on a computer being able to deduce meaning in search queries. That's why it hires "guides" -- a group of humans, 7,000 strong and growing, who put together customized results while chatting by instant message with the searcher.
Guides tell the ChaCha system what topics match their expertise. Once they complete some training, they get paid by the hour to produce what Scott Jones, the company's founder, hopes are more useful lists of links that include Web pages invisible to the average search engine.
In an interview, Jones said ChaCha stores the human-curated results, so that people searching related topics later will benefit from the work.
Still not completely convinced that this was all for real I asked Is chacha.com a scam?
JenniferG: Hello
You: i am pretty sure you are robots, is this the case?
JenniferG: Happy New Year
You: happy new year :)
JenniferG: No
JenniferG: At least the last time I checked I wasn't a robot
You: that sounds like something a robot would say
*SESSION ENDS*OK so there probably are real people and not clever chatbots. To see how well the concept worked I asked a few questions I knew the answers to, but were easily googlable "What is the Cosmic Microwave Background?", "What are the different classifications of stars?" and "How do I make pancakes?". Each of these questions was answered quickly and a few relevant google links were sent my way. Before retiring for the night I decided to try and get them to give me a link to this blog, and asked How do I pick locks? The following conversation ensued:
You: hello!
BarbaraT: I'm assuming this is for a lock you have in your home??
You: yes I'm not a bank robber or anything like that
You: or even a common burglar
BarbaraT: That's good - I couldn't see if you were wearing a mask or not (smiling)
BarbaraT: Let me see if I can find any info for you
BarbaraT: Just a minute
You: my mask is hidden in my loot bag
You: WAIT PRETEND I DIDN'T SAY THAT
BarbaraT: No problem
*a couple of minutes pass*
BarbaraT: Excuse me - I just got a call about a death in the family - I'm going to transfer you to another guide
*SESSION ENDS*Oh... Google has never treated me like that before. I hope her family is OK!
The guide she transferred me to did actually manage to send me a link to this blog! Finally I decided to do a couple of nonsensical questions, Can a walrus fly?
Jadeane S: No
You: thanks, that's a shame though.
*SESSION ENDS*The guides also did a pretty good job of filtering nonsense requests out and not wasting too much time on them.
After a guide answers a question you are allowed to see their profile. Literally every single person I spoke to was a mid 30's SAHM (I assume this is stay at home mother). I guess $10 an hour at a job they can work any hours they want is really appealing to that demographic. Hell, if I were still at university then it'd be a useful way of making a bit of money.
All in all it seems that chacha.com would be very useful for those that struggle to filter through google results on their own (the elderly, perhaps, or maybe those that are new to the internet) and it is certainly an interesting concept, although none of the guides I met had any real specific knowledge and just seemed to return the top few google results for whatever I asked, so I wouldn't expect a decent answer for anything that google can't turn up within a page or so. This shortcoming may be alleviated with time as more and more guides sign up with differing areas of expertise.
Finally I found that you need be a little careful when asking controversial questions as the personal bias of the guide sometimes show through quite strongly. When I asked "Is there any evidence for a God?" I got back a stream of christian fundamentalist propaganda, and when I asked the same guide for more specific information on pagan gods they just gave up and transferred me to somebody else with no warning.
