ChaCha Versus Google

I am sure all of you have heard of Google.com but have you heard of ChaCha.com? They are both search engines but ChaCha.com adds a twist to the mix of searching.

I have never compared the two, but decided to give it a whirl. Below you find my experience with both search engines.

I have decided to search for something that interests my son. He is highly interested in animals of any kind, but recently penguins are his big thing. So, I decided to research penguins and see what type of results I get from ChaCha and Google. Here is what I've found.

First I am going to cover ChaCha with my search on penguins. I asked the search engine of ChaCha.com "what area has the biggest penguin population". I then chose to use the twist at ChaCha which is human guides to see what type of results the human touch could get for me. I got a wonderful guide named Vicky for my search about penguins. She sent me 3 sites with all types of information about penguins. The first ChaCha guide result was for a site that has penguins. The first ChaCha guide result was for a site that has penguin frequently asked questions. My question was immediately answered in the section titled "Where Are Penguins Located". The next result was to a site that told me several different species and where they were located. Though I did not enjoy link number 2 as much as the first. The last link that my guide Vicky provided for me on ChaCha was for the March of the Penguin website. The third link really did nothing for me or my original question that I posed to ChaCha before requesting a guide. At the end of the ChaCha session and after my guide had signed off I went through her links and then the other bonus to ChaCha came into play, I could rate my guide Vicky. I gave my ChaCha guide Vicky a GREAT rating. The human guided power of ChaCha gave me within a three or four minute time frame 2 excellent sites to my search and 1 irrelevant result for my search.

Next, I headed over to Google.com to do the same search with the same search terms which are "what area has the biggest penguin population". The top 3 results that Google sent to me where as follows. Google's first result was for a site that immediately showed nothing as far as my question went. The first images on the top result for Google were about rabbits and seahorses. Not about the area with the biggest penguin population. In the first Google result I actually had to use CTRL+F and type in penguin to even see the mention of penguins in the top Google link. The number 2 link on Google's list took me to a site that did give me info on penguin population but it was the population over time for the Falkland Islands. The 3^rd top link for Google was the same link that provided different specie information, exactly the same information that I received in link number 2 from ChaCha's guided search.

Let's review what I've found so far in my comparison of ChaCha.com and Google.com:

ChaCha's guide Vicky gave me one great result that immediately answered my question, followed by link two that gave some information on the different species and where they lived, and ChaCha's third and final link really did not answer my immediate question.

On my Google.com search using the same search terms mind you, the first link took a me a few minutes to even find the word penguin, let alone the information I had requested. The second link Google gave though better then the first still did not answer my question of "what area has the biggest penguin population". The third and final link that Google gave to me was the exact same site that ChaCha's guide Vicky gave me in her second result.

I have came to the conclusion that ChaCha.com has a much better idea and concept. The simple fact that I got a wonderful guide helped I am sure. However the results that ChaCha's guide gave me helped answer my question pretty much right away. With Google I would have had to dig into further pages to find what I wanted to know exactly. Who has that kind of time most days? It truly is much easier to go over to ChaCha.com and conduct a search and if you are still having trouble click the "Chat with a guide" option and let someone help you out with your search. It will more then likely save you time and energy just like it did with me. I highly recommend giving it a try, and even compare ChaCha and Google to see if you have the same outcome as I did.