<s>
ChaCha	B-Application
was	O
an	O
American	O
human-guided	B-Application
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
that	O
provided	O
free	O
,	O
real-time	O
answers	O
to	O
any	O
question	O
,	O
through	O
its	O
website	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
using	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
mobile	B-Application
apps	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
,	O
founded	O
in	O
2006	O
by	O
Scott	B-Application
A	I-Application
.	I-Application
Jones	I-Application
and	O
Brad	O
Bostic	O
,	O
was	O
based	O
in	O
Carmel	O
,	O
Indiana	O
,	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Indianapolis	O
metropolitan	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alpha	O
version	O
of	O
ChaCha	B-Application
was	O
launched	O
on	O
September	O
1	O
,	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ChaCha	B-Application
said	O
20,000	O
guides	O
had	O
registered	O
by	O
year	O
's	O
end	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
raised	O
US$6	O
million	O
in	O
development	O
funds	O
,	O
including	O
support	O
from	O
Bezos	O
Expeditions	O
,	O
a	O
personal	O
investment	O
firm	O
owned	O
by	O
Jeff	O
Bezos	O
,	O
the	O
entrepreneur	B-Application
behind	O
Amazon.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
January	O
2008	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
had	O
5,000	O
freelance	O
guides	O
with	O
at	O
least	O
500	O
working	O
at	O
any	O
one	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MogoNews.com	O
reported	O
that	O
ChaCha	B-Application
's	O
first	O
round	O
of	O
equity	O
financing	O
was	O
$14	O
million	O
plus	O
a	O
$2	O
million	O
grant	O
from	O
21st	O
Century	O
Technology	O
Fund	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ChaCha	B-Application
announced	O
on	O
March	O
17	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
round	O
of	O
equity	O
financing	O
totaling	O
US$12	O
million	O
,	O
while	O
also	O
laying	O
off	O
25	O
people	O
and	O
reducing	O
the	O
salaries	O
of	O
the	O
56	O
remaining	O
employees	O
by	O
10	O
percent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
month	O
later	O
,	O
co-founder	O
Brad	O
Bostic	O
stepped	O
down	O
as	O
company	O
president	O
,	O
saying	O
ChaCha	B-Application
no	O
longer	O
needed	O
him	O
for	O
day-to-day	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2011	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
text	O
messaging-based	O
service	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
20	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
shut	O
down	O
operations	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
;	O
the	O
company	O
stated	O
the	O
reason	O
for	O
ending	O
UK	O
operations	O
was	O
that	O
"	O
adoption	O
rates	O
for	O
new	O
price-competitive	O
services	O
are	O
quite	O
low	O
in	O
the	O
UK.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
23	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
discontinued	O
the	O
guide	O
program	O
due	O
to	O
having	O
insufficient	O
funds	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
12	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
shut	O
down	O
operations	O
due	O
to	O
declining	O
advertising	O
revenue	O
,	O
which	O
left	O
it	O
unable	O
to	O
service	O
its	O
debt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ChaCha	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
with	O
the	O
intention	O
to	O
offer	O
human-guided	B-Application
search	O
from	O
within	O
a	O
web	O
browser	O
and	O
for	O
the	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
to	O
learn	O
from	O
the	O
results	O
provided	O
by	O
their	O
freelancers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
offered	O
a	O
chat	B-Protocol
on	O
the	O
left	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
page	O
where	O
users	O
could	O
chat	B-Protocol
with	O
the	O
guides	O
and	O
conclude	O
their	O
search	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
send	O
an	O
SMS	B-Device
message	O
with	O
their	O
question	O
to	O
242	O
–	O
242	O
,	O
where	O
Guides	O
would	O
then	O
answer	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Standard	O
messaging	O
fees	O
could	O
apply	O
,	O
but	O
ChaCha	B-Application
never	O
charged	O
additional	O
fees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ChaCha	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
beta	O
version	O
of	O
a	O
call-in	O
search	B-Application
service	I-Application
on	O
April	O
1	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
while	O
discontinuing	O
its	O
less	O
effective	O
guided	O
web	B-Application
search	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
called	O
a	O
toll-free	O
number	O
(	O
800-2ChaCha	O
)	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
human	O
answer	O
their	O
questions	O
via	O
SMS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2008	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
first	O
mobile	O
marketing	O
campaign	O
with	O
Coca-Cola	O
to	O
promote	O
its	O
My	O
Coke	O
Rewards	O
program	O
to	O
users	O
interested	O
in	O
NASCAR	O
racing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fox	O
News	O
reported	O
that	O
ChaCha	B-Application
planned	O
by	O
mid-2008	O
to	O
charge	O
users	O
$5	O
–	O
10	O
per	O
month	O
once	O
they	O
exceeded	O
10	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2008	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
SMS	B-Device
Advertising	O
Platform	O
at	O
ad:tech	O
New	O
York	O
City	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2009	O
,	O
ChaCha	B-Application
reported	O
30	O
million	O
"	O
impressions	O
per	O
month	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
3.6	O
million	O
users	O
"	O
since	O
January	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ESPN	O
2009	O
article	O
stated	O
that	O
ChaCha	B-Application
was	O
getting	O
about	O
1,000,000	O
questions	O
each	O
day	O
according	O
to	O
their	O
tipsheets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
former	O
Yahoo	B-Application
executive	O
opened	O
a	O
New	O
York	O
City	O
office	O
for	O
ChaCha	B-Application
in	O
hopes	O
of	O
increasing	O
advertising	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2009	O
,	O
Rick	O
Reilly	O
spent	O
some	O
time	O
working	O
at	O
ChaCha	B-Application
for	O
an	O
article	O
in	O
ESPN	O
The	O
Magazine	O
.	O
</s>
