Indianapolis-based free mobile and web Q&A service ChaCha this week announced the release of three Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to the developer community. Activity is buzzing around the Carmel offices of ChaCha. The API announcement comes on the heels of the launch of a ChaCha Twitter channel (@chacha) and the debut of two new apps, one for the popular iPhone and a Facebook app that allows you to ask questions to your Facebook Friends, as well as ChaCha's expert guides.
Providing for free access to ChaCha's database of questions and answers, the new ChaCha APIs will give web and app publishers an easy way for their audience to ask questions and get immediate answers by category, keyword or trends. ChaCha's database is updated in near real-time, providing an ideal way to gain insights into what other people are asking.
"Through our unique SMS- and web-based answer service, we've collected hundreds of millions of answers since early 2008. We are excited to put our API into the hands of the developer community to see all of the interesting things they come up with in leveraging our vast database of content," said Scott Jones, CEO of ChaCha. "It's all about taking our viral, popular service and giving people the ability to use ChaCha from anywhere."
"With traditional search engines, people have to enter keywords and subsequently receive pages of links that force users to further hunt, sort, sift, and digest the various destination web pages, often yielding no relevant results. With ChaCha, which is the fastest growing SMS search service, the unique power lies in the ability to ask a question and get a specific and fast answer. ChaCha's answers have proven to be a great way to reach teens and young adults across a variety of media and this launch enables developers to bring ChaCha's answers to an even larger audience," Mr. Jones said in a press release issued this week.
To encourage developer participation, the company is sponsoring a contest with three prize levels to reward the most innovative uses of ChaCha's new APIs. The winner of the six-week contest will get $10,000; second place will earn $5,000 and third, $2,000. Additionally, all will get recognition on Chacha.com. The judges will consider how creative the idea, the quality of the product, the success of its implementation and how many people interact with the program.
Developers can find detailed information about the ChaCha APIs here: http://developer.chacha.com/, and complete contest information here: http://challengepost.com/chacha. The APIs complement other newly launched applications available from ChaCha including Facebook, iPhone and Twitter, making the company's unique service accessible across multiple platforms for its loyal user base.
No comments:
Post a Comment