INDIANAPOLIS - January 9, 2009 - ChaCha, the fastest growing SMS mobile search service in the industry, was recently honored as the runner up in the Best Mobile Startup category at the second annual Crunchies Awards Ceremony held this evening in San Francisco. The Crunchies, co-sponsored by GigaOm, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider and TechCrunch, recognize the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. ChaCha was among six finalists in the Best Mobile Startup category, with nearly 350,000 voters deciding the overall winners.
“We are proud to be included among the best innovators on the Web and mobile platforms, and with the support of TechCrunch, GigaOm, VentureBeat and Silicon Valley Insider, we will take this opportunity to continue to enhance our product and extend our reach,” said Brad Bostic, co-founder and president of ChaCha. “Our congratulations go to every company present tonight and we thank the hundreds of thousands of Internet voters that selected the winners.”
ChaCha has proven able to handle a tremendous volume of more than a half million queries per day, boosting its influence as a leading mobile advertising platform among interactive and digital marketers targeting youth audiences.
ChaCha introduced its free mobile Q & A service in January 2008. The SMS system uses real-life, human Guides to provide free answers to any question, anytime, anywhere, from and to any activated wireless phone. ChaCha users don’t need a Web enabled phone, special browsers or codes to search the Internet, and ChaCha answers go far beyond directory assistance. Mobile users simply text 242242 or call 1-800-2ChaCha on their mobile phones, ask their questions and receive concise, relevant answers via text messaging.
The Awards
Co-hosted by GigaOm, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, and TechCrunch, the second annual Crunchies competition and award ceremony recognizes and celebrates the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. The internet community nominates deserving companies and products based on their achievements throughout 2008. The Crunchies Committee chooses five finalist companies in each award category, and final award winners are chosen from the finalists by popular vote received through website voting.
About ChaCha
ChaCha, a free mobile answers service, allows users to call 1-800-2ChaCha™ or text questions to ChaCha (242242™) on mobile phones and receive answers within minutes. ChaCha expert Guides – trained and skilled individuals – use ChaCha’s powerful internal patent-pending search tools to respond to any query. For more information about ChaCha’s newest features, go to www.chacha.com. For more information about maximizing the power of mobile answers to elevate your marketing campaigns to a new level, visit ChaCha’s Rich SMS Advertising™ partner site at: http://partners.chacha.com
