ChaCha enables voice-based mobile search

Forget about trying to compete in the super competitive search engine wars. One so-called "alternative" search engine is refocusing their efforts on the mobile web in an effort to gain a surer foothold in the market. Part of the change has been to enable voice-based mobile search. The voice-based model allows consumers to ask questions as if they were speaking to a friend. The questions are answers a few minutes later via text message.

by Kristina Knight

Consumers can ask anything - from questions about directions or business locations to finding out how many points their favorite stock is up or down.

ChaCha CEO Scott A. Jones said, “Desktop search engines have attempted to enter the mobile market by forcing users to enter a restricted query with their thumbs on a tiny keypad in a specific way, which causes most people to find other ways of meeting their information needs, such as calling a friend or waiting until they get to a computer, or, worse yet, making less-informed decisions. Using ChaCha is like having thousands of informed friends available by phone to help answer your questions 24 hours a day.”

ChaCha launched a text-based mobile search program earlier this year; in February the company was named the Number One Alternative Search Engine by ReadWriteWeb.