A couple of weeks ago I had an interesting conversation with two guys on Google+ about ChaCha and comparing ChaCha results to Google search results. Matt Hunckler started it by saying:
“Content marketing – How did +ChaCha beat Google, Siri and Ask.com as the best Q&A site?
Join +Jeff Jockisch Director of Content at ChaCha in an hour as we break it down for you.
RSVP for the Hangout Here
https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cjs15lv3acode025un7snqjfe24”
I spoke up and said, “People still use ChaCha?” I was being serious. I have only used the service a few times, and have never been impressed with the speed of response nor the quality of the response. Several comments were left, and Matt got Jeff Jockisch involved. Jeff actually works at ChaCha, so his response was jaded toward a love for ChaCha. Even Jeremy Dearringer spoke up and said, “ChaCha rules. The company moves at light speed so it’s not fair to judge based on a three year old experience or even a one year old experience IMO.” That is when I decided to write a blog comparing ChaCha to Google, a service that we all use on a daily basis. Sheryl said I should also use Siri and Ask.com, since they were initially mentioned… but I rarely use those services when I have a question. I will always use Google.
2 Billion Questions Answered
Matt claims that ChaCha has over 2 billion questions answered and is one of the 50 largest websites on the Internet in terms of traffic. I asked my buddy Jason, who lives in Dallas, Texas, if he had heard of ChaCha. He replied, “The dance?” Ha! If this is one of the 50 most visited websites, you would think a guy that lives in Dallas would have heard of it. I digress.
According to their website, ChaCha is the place to get fast, definitive answers – about everything. I wanted to put this to the test, and ask ChaCha 10 questions. I will record the response time and the answers below. I will also be searching Google for the exact same question and will be recording the time it took me to find an answer and the accuracy of response. This is the true test on why the ChaCha business model is flawed. You can blame smart phones or a fast Internet connection, but I am excited to discredit what Matt said and to prove that Google is not only faster than ChaCha, but is more reliable in the answers in which it provides. The questions are below:
- What time is happy hour at Ra Sushi in Scottsdale?
- How many majors does Tiger Woods have?
- How many calories are in a Big Mac?
- What times does the Mellow Mushroom close?
- How many teams are in the Big 10?
- In what year was the Eiffel Tower built?
- What is the ABV of Grey Goose vodka?
- Does ChaCha have a mobile app?
- Who won the 2013 Daytona 500?
- 10. What is the capital of Rhode Island?
As you can see, I will be asking some pretty basic questions. These are all things that ChaCha should be able to answer, in a timely manner, and correctly. Please note I will ask ChaCha the exact same question that I ask Google. I already know Google will blow ChaCha out of the water, but I am curious to see the responses that ChaCha provides. The format will look like this:
Question:
ChaCha Response Time:
ChaCha Provided Answer:
Google Response Time:
Google Provided Answer:
Source:
Let’s get started.
Question: What time is happy hour at Ra Sushi in Scottsdale?
ChaCha Response Time: +/- 10 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Happy Hour at Ra Sushi is from 5 PM to 6 PM. ChaCha!!! *4Kissing Tips txt KTIPS
Google Response Time: 3-5 seconds (I had to click a link for the official Ra Sushi website to see happy hour information. This information is available on the home page.)
Google Provided Answer: Monday – Saturday 3 – 7 PM
Source: http://www.rasushi.com/
The first question I asked was about a restaurant located in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have been to this restaurant several times, but never knew their happy hour hours. Indiana doesn’t have happy hour hours, so that was a highlight of moving to Arizona. Anyway, as you can see, ChaCha responded in a timely manner, but I was hit with an ad and the answer was wrong. Regardless of how fast they responded, the answer is wrong.
Please note that before I was provided an answer, I received an ad. The ad said, “Ans on the way! * Gamespot.com Editors Choice. See what all the talk is about. http://traktum.com/?a=1&c=166181&21=”
Question: How many majors does Tiger Woods have?
ChaCha Response Time: +/- 10 Seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Tiger Woods has won 14 major championships so far in his career, even with a torn ACL and two fractures! Amazing!!! 242 242 * 4Kissing Tips, txt KTIPS
Google Response Time: 1 second (Google automatically filled in my search results, and I had an answer showing on my screen before I could finish asking my question.
Google Provided Answer: 14
Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_majors_does_Tiger_Woods_have
Question: How many calories are in a Big Mac?
ChaCha Response Time: After waiting 5 minutes without a response, I decided to move on to the next question.
ChaCha Provided Answer: NA
Google Response Time: 3 seconds
Google Provided Answer: 550 calories
Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49005774/How_Many_Calories_in_That_Big_Mac
I never received a response to this question. I could have called McDonald’s and asked them faster than ChaCha responded. Oh, and 550 calories is a lot for a sandwich!
Question: What times does the Mellow Mushroom in Tempe close?
ChaCha Response Time: +/- 13 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Red Roof Inn, 2135 W 15th St Tempe, AZ 85281. Ph 4804493205 Reply NEXT for more. *BeMine, txt CUPID
Google Response Time: +/- 1 second
Google Provided Answer: 2:00 AM
Source: http://mellowmushroom.com/store/tempe
I literally laughed out loud when I read their response. What in the world does the Red Roof Inn have to do with the Mellow Mushroom? Anyone see a connection here?
Question: How many teams are in the Big 10?
ChaCha Response Time: 6 minutes 34 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Funny enough, there’s 11 teams in the Big 10 conference. Can we assist with anything else today? Thanks and ChaCha it up! *For BizInfo Txt 411 (BizName)
Google Response Time: +/- 3 seconds
Google Provided Answer: 11
Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_teams_are_in_the_big_ten_conference
Question: In what year was the Eiffel Tower built?
ChaCha Response Time: 5-7 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 to 1889 for the Universal Exhibition & Centennial of the French Revolution *Ur Fortune awaits! Txt WILDCARD
Google Response Time: +/- 1 second
Google Provided Answer: January 28, 1887 (per the Google search result itself); Between 1887 and 1889
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower
One thing that ChaCha does do is providing additional information with your response. However, most of the time it requires you to click a link. I am sure there is a direct correlation to their search traffic. In some cases, the additional information is appreciated. In other cases, I could just read the article that Google provided.
Question: What is the ABV of Grey Goose vodka?
ChaCha Response Time: 49 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Greg Goose..The Superb Gander of Vodka has a Product Rating of 5.0 stars. Smooth flavor, no after taste, a exquisite spirit on the rocks or for cocktails.
Google Response Time: 3 seconds
Google Provided Answer: 40%
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Goose_%28vodka%29
I didn’t ask what the product rating was… I asked the ABV. ABV stands for alcohol by volume, and has nothing to do with product rating. Nice play on words, though!
Question: Does ChaCha have a mobile app?
ChaCha Response Time: 9 minutes 48 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Download the free ChaCha app for Android at http://chacha.ee/twNYZ0. Use the ChaCha app to… For more go to http://www.chacha.com/b/pQ4hpl0cQdmmblHFkPu3yQ
Google Response Time: 7 seconds
Google Provided Answer: Yes.
Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/does-chacha-have-a-mobile-application
I am asking ChaCha if ChaCha has an app… wouldn’t that response be somewhat automatic? I do appreciate the link to download the app, but I was using an iPhone, so the Android app URL did me no good.
Question: Who won the 2013 Daytona 500?
ChaCha Response Time: 1 minute 7 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the 2013 Daytona 500 race, his first win of the… For more go to http://www.chacha.com/b/NHwcCtgRQXWayrd5pnDiGg
Google Response Time: 3 seconds
Google Provided Answer: Jimmie Johnson
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2013/02/24/daytona-500-2013-results-jimmie-johnson-danica/1943597/
Question: What is the capital of Rhode Island?
ChaCha Response Time: 8 seconds
ChaCha Provided Answer: The capital of Rhode Island is Providence! *Desperate PickupLines, txt PUL
Google Response Time: +/- 1 second
Google Provided Answer: Providence
Source: http://www.50states.com/rdisland.htm
Google had provided the answer before I could finish typing the question. I would like to see ChaCha do that!
As you can see, Google is a much better solution. Google is faster. Google is more accurate. Oh, and the ChaCha ads… are you kidding me? Those are enough for me not to use this service. I asked some pretty basic questions, and questions that ChaCha should be able to easily answer.
ChaCha Social Media Efforts
Over the weekend, I was chatting with a buddy about ChaCha. We were talking about their social media efforts… or lack thereof. He was, in turn, talking with a ChaCha employee on Twitter about this. According to her comments, there is no one in charge of their social media efforts. I have, since I started writing this blog post, posted about them several times on Twitter. They have not responded to a single tweet. Not only is this service providing me inaccurate information, their social media efforts are pretty lackluster, too.
Matt Hunckler said, “Over 2 billion questions answered and counting. And still one of the 50 largest websites on the internet in terms of traffic.” They might answer a lot of questions, but when they rarely answer the questions correctly, what’s the point of answering the question in the first place?
Sorry Matt (and everyone else that works for and uses this service), but Google is a better solution. There is no need for a service like ChaCha, and this blog post proves it. If you have had success with ChaCha, I would love to hear about it.
You can read Matt’s original post, and conversation, here: https://plus.google.com/108319151108108798694/posts/Ta35ZxcN8bR
fun and interesting post, but hardly a fair fight.
you need to match use case – use google’s sms service and compare.
Believe it or not, there are still dumb phones out there – a lot of them – and I believe chacha’s intent is to serve them. I mean, if you have a browser, it’s going to be easier to SUBMIT your question in the first place, no?
Thanks for your comments. I agree with you 100%, and as I was writing and as I was doing my research, I thought about that. Perhaps I could update the post by calculating the time it takes me to search on my phone. The answers would ideally be the same, but it might take a few more seconds to type everything in.
Now, regarding dumb phones… yes. You are correct. If that is their target audience, then they have a major advantage. But my point was to discredit the service based on Matt’s comments. The service, when compared to Google search results, doesn’t stand a chance. I see your points, I understand your points, and I am glad that someone brought this up and brought this up early on in the discussion.
The more I think about this, the more I want to go back and track the time to find an answer on my phone using Safari (default browser), and see how fast I can do it on an iPad. I was not familiar that Google had an SMS offering… what is that called?
just send a text to “GOOGLE” (466453) – it’s good for certain things, but doesn’t parse questions. for example, i just sent the TIger Woods question and it returned “Sorry, ‘How many majors d…’ did not return any results.
sending the message “Showtimes 85205” is much more effective.
and yeah, I TOTALLY agree that their claims are way off.
for more on google sms, watch this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0LfUhUK678 (part of a series)