INDIANAPOLIS – February 25, 2009 – In a head-to-head comparison between ChaCha and Google SMS, ChaCha achieved 70 percent of Google’s SMS search volume in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to data from the Q4 Mobile Messaging Report from The Nielsen Company. Of all SMS traffic measured in Nielsen’s report, which is comprised of all incoming and outgoing text messages, ChaCha is the seventh most trafficked service, quickly gaining ground on Google, Facebook, and Twitter. ChaCha now has more than 3.5 million unique mobile users in its first year of service.
“ChaCha is a company to watch within the SMS space,” said David Gill, Director of Mobile Media, The Nielsen Company. “When we look at the leading SMS brands today, we’re not surprised to see Twitter and Facebook in the top 10, but the rapid growth of ChaCha in just one year is impressive. Certainly the trended data shows them headed to the front of the pack for SMS search.”
Advertisers like Palm, McDonald’s, the Obama Campaign, and H&R Block have already taken advantage of the tremendous growth and response rates through ChaCha’s pay-for-performance text-based mobile advertising solution. Taking into consideration ChaCha’s unsurpassed one-on-one user engagement and three to five percent response rates, Palm recently chose ChaCha for its “Santa’s Gone Centro” SMS mobile ad campaign, which generated strong interest in purchasing a Palm Centro from more than 5.4 percent of users who opted into the campaign.
“ChaCha is quickly dominating the SMS search market – we don’t just provide a pile of links to Web sites or require customers to know special search codes like other contenders. Instead, we enable millions of text conversations with a ‘smart friend’ who can quickly answer virtually any question,” said ChaCha CEO, Scott A. Jones. “Our explosive growth with the coveted demographic of the under-25 age group is a testament to the high value we deliver to our loyal and prolific users, which is a huge win for both our customers and our advertisers. We clearly have the capability to impact buying decisions, which is especially relevant given advertisers’ interest in getting as much as possible out of their marketing dollar during these tough economic conditions.”
In January 2008, ChaCha introduced its free mobile answers service, which leverages human guides to provide free answers to any question, anytime, anywhere. Users don’t need a Web-enabled phone, special browsers or codes to search the Internet, and ChaCha answers go far beyond directory assistance. For free, mobile customers simply text 242242 or call 1-800-2ChaCha on their mobile phones, ask their questions and receive concise, relevant answers via text messaging.
About ChaCha
ChaCha, a completely 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. Its unique advertising solutions provide pay-for-performance opportunities for advertisers to precisely target and embed their messages within millions of text conversations. Unlike traditional media, ChaCha’s advertising platform is simple, results-driven, and measurable.
