Like Techcrunch's Michael Arrington, I can't see ChaCha
ever working.
ChaCha, if you haven't come across it yet, is a new breed of search engine that pairs users with a human guide. The idea is that, if you're having trouble finding something, or can't be bothered to find it yourself on Google, Yahoo or whatever other search engine you're using, a battle-hardened 'live search expert' will do it for you, and in real time.
Just tap your search query into the 'Search with Guide' field and up comes an instant messaging-like interface. Your guide will introduce him or herself and ask how he or she can help. Once you've told the guide what you're looking for he or she goes away for a few seconds, or maybe longer, and then – hey presto! – you're provided with just the link you need. Or at least, that's the theory.
While the concept is sound, the reality isn't. For example, I asked one of ChaCha's guides, a certain 'J', whether or not the French writer Gilles Deleuze had committed suicide or whether he had in fact died of natural causes. I needed to know for sure, as I had read several different accounts of his death and needed to be 100% for an important essay I was writing (it sounded a genuine enough query at the time, and I was feeling a little world weary after a lunchtime drink...).
In the event, J proved absolutely hopeless. I was asked a few basic questions such as 'What sort of books did he write?' before my live search expert did a disappearing act and logged out. Hmmmm. When I tried to find the info myself (which obviously I knew already, I was simply 'mystery-searching'), it took me all of three seconds via any number of links.
While I'm not convinced people-powered search will ever work – the human brain doesn't so much inspire search as inconvenience it – I was most attracted to ChaCha by the idea of somebody helping me find something I couldn't, by a person providing me with information that would help me arrive at a decision, or simply pointing me in the right direction — live, in real time. Even if I didn't really need them.
Could an issuer have some sort of people-powered search proposition, a field on the home page where existing or prospective cardholders can type queries such as 'Which of your cards has the lowest interest rate?', 'How much do you need to earn to apply for the platinum card?', or 'I have a query about one of the transactions on my statement, who should I talk to?', and is answered by an XYZ Bank card expert in real time? It's not dissimilar to the possibilities of widgets
discussed in a previous entry, but is more immediate, more direct, and more personal.
Of course, in nine out of ten cases the cardholders could have found the answer out themselves — in a matter of a few clicks. But Web 2.0 isn't about clicks, it's about indulging customers as much as engaging with them. With Web 2.0, the era of interaction, it's the little things that count.