Sunday, April 01, 2007
感受Chacha (Experiencing Chacha)
来源：风之谷
很多人都说下一代搜索是社会搜索(Social Search)。一种对Social Search的理解是如Eurekster这 样的Social Powered Vertical Search Platform。Wikipedia的创始人Wales也想用类似的方式来打败Google。而更直接的一种理解就是雇人（暂且叫这些人search guide）来搜索。这种模式和已有的搜索模式并不矛盾。已有的方式是提供了一些基本的工具。而帮助他人来搜索的search guide们也需要依赖传统的如Google这样的工具来完成分配给他们的搜索任务。在这种模式下，一个核心的技术问题是如何合理有效的分配查询。一方 面，那些search guide们需要比较准确的描述自己的专长。另一方面，对用户提交的查询也要做比较准确的自动分类以找到对应的search guide(s)。Chacha是这个领域的先锋。他是最早采用这种模式的搜索引擎。也是目前这个领域最引人注目的。我用两个query感受了一下Chacha这个特色服务。
第一个查询是比较popular的查询Tom Cruise。如下是整个交流过程:
Status: Connecting ...
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: Roxanna(17533)
Roxanna(17533): Welcome to ChaCha!
Roxanna(17533): Hi
You: hi
Roxanna(17533): what can I find for you on tom cruise
You: I want to find tom cruise's girl friend in his high school
Roxanna(17533): your search is who tom cruise had for a girl friend in high school
You: yes
Roxanna(17533): well, I am not sure if we can find that , but I will certainly do my best to see if we can, please give me a few moments while I search
You: the name, birthday, hair style, height and weight of her
You: and also what she has been married to
You: you can send me the answer to scenery_jf@hotmail.com
You: I have some urgent things to do now. Thanks
You: Bye
Transfer: You are being transfered to another guide who can help you search even better!
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: mark(52951)
mark(52951): Welcome to ChaCha!
mark(52951): Hi
mark(52951): Please be more specific as to what you're looking for on this topic.
You: I want to find tom cruise's girl friend in his high school \
You: the name, birthday, hair style, height and weight of her
You: and also what she has been married to
You: Specific enough?
You: ???
You: Can you answer that in 1 minute?
mark(52951): Thank you for using ChaCha!
Status: Session ended.
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: Roxanna(17533)
Roxanna(17533): Welcome to ChaCha!
Roxanna(17533): Hi
You: hi
Roxanna(17533): what can I find for you on tom cruise
You: I want to find tom cruise's girl friend in his high school
Roxanna(17533): your search is who tom cruise had for a girl friend in high school
You: yes
Roxanna(17533): well, I am not sure if we can find that , but I will certainly do my best to see if we can, please give me a few moments while I search
You: the name, birthday, hair style, height and weight of her
You: and also what she has been married to
You: you can send me the answer to scenery_jf@hotmail.com
You: I have some urgent things to do now. Thanks
You: Bye
Transfer: You are being transfered to another guide who can help you search even better!
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: mark(52951)
mark(52951): Welcome to ChaCha!
mark(52951): Hi
mark(52951): Please be more specific as to what you're looking for on this topic.
You: I want to find tom cruise's girl friend in his high school \
You: the name, birthday, hair style, height and weight of her
You: and also what she has been married to
You: Specific enough?
You: ???
You: Can you answer that in 1 minute?
mark(52951): Thank you for using ChaCha!
Status: Session ended.
对于两个guide我给的评价都是bad。不是因为他们没有帮我找到答案。这 么八卦的问题我压根也没指望有什么好的答案。而是因为他们的服务不够专业。比如第一个人，他完全可以答应我的请求，回头做些调研然后发信给我的。而第二人 一旦觉得问题有难度，马上就闪人，sigh......。其实我觉得这种人力搜索相对于机器搜索来说，一个最有优势的地方就是解决一些比较困难的查询。如 果是很简单的查询，Google完全可以在他们connecting的时间内就给用户满意的答案了，呵呵。Chacha和目前的Q&A也很类似。不过Chacha更强调实时性，而Q&A更强调答案的准确性。相对来说Q&A的方向是更有道理和前途的。
另一个查询是Feng Jing。第一个人找了两个关于那个体操运动员的网页，在我的一再提示下（比如做image analysis方面的研究人员），还是不能给我答案。最后抛给我Wikipedia里面的一个条目，然后就闪了，呵呵。我还是给了个Bad的评价。接下 来来了个稍微专业一些的女士sherri。如下是我和她的对话：
Status: Connecting ...
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: Sherri(17326)
Sherri(17326): Welcome to ChaCha!
You: hi
Sherri(17326): hello
You: Can you help me to find some info about Feng Jing
Sherri(17326): just a moment
Sherri(17326): is this first link who you are looking for?
You: Yes, this is the one.
Sherri(17326): ok, good, now I know whwat I am looking for
You: I want to find his wife's blog site
Sherri(17326): what is her name
You: I don't know
Sherri(17326): ok
You: Otherwise, I won't start with his name
You: How long will you take?
Sherri(17326): Thanks for being patient! Rest assured I'm finding the most relevant results for your search.
Sherri(17326): well I revised the search to seek his wife
Sherri(17326): just a momnet
You: ok
You: any progress?
Sherri(17326): if he has a wife, there is nothing posted about her yet
You: I'm sure that she has a blog site
You: I just can't remember the site address
You: Anyway, could you do more research on this and send me the results later to me via email
Sherri(17326): giv eme you eamil
You: scenery_jf@hotmail.com
You: Thanks in advance
Sherri(17326): ok got it
Sherri(17326): Are these results sufficient?
You: no
You: Thank you for your time
You: CU
Sherri(17326): no problem
Sherri(17326): bye
Sherri(17326): Please RATE ME. Thanks for using ChaCha.
Status: Session ended.
Status: Looking for a guide ...
Status: Connected to guide: Sherri(17326)
Sherri(17326): Welcome to ChaCha!
You: hi
Sherri(17326): hello
You: Can you help me to find some info about Feng Jing
Sherri(17326): just a moment
Sherri(17326): is this first link who you are looking for?
You: Yes, this is the one.
Sherri(17326): ok, good, now I know whwat I am looking for
You: I want to find his wife's blog site
Sherri(17326): what is her name
You: I don't know
Sherri(17326): ok
You: Otherwise, I won't start with his name
You: How long will you take?
Sherri(17326): Thanks for being patient! Rest assured I'm finding the most relevant results for your search.
Sherri(17326): well I revised the search to seek his wife
Sherri(17326): just a momnet
You: ok
You: any progress?
Sherri(17326): if he has a wife, there is nothing posted about her yet
You: I'm sure that she has a blog site
You: I just can't remember the site address
You: Anyway, could you do more research on this and send me the results later to me via email
Sherri(17326): giv eme you eamil
You: scenery_jf@hotmail.com
You: Thanks in advance
Sherri(17326): ok got it
Sherri(17326): Are these results sufficient?
You: no
You: Thank you for your time
You: CU
Sherri(17326): no problem
Sherri(17326): bye
Sherri(17326): Please RATE ME. Thanks for using ChaCha.
Status: Session ended.
她先是很快找到了我的主页。我肯定了她的成果后，要她帮我找我老婆的blog 的链接。她在一番努力后说没有这个东西，呵呵。在我的坚持下，她又努力了一番，最后也是抛了个Wikipedia的条目给我。后来我把email给她，让 她找到后发信给我。24小时后没有任何回复。当然她相对于之前的几个还是要更专业些的，因此我给了个ok。
我不清楚Chacha是如何和这些Guide合作的。是按session的个数给钱，还是按质量给钱，或者是用质量加权。
总之这种利用guide的模式是值得借鉴的。也是很有勇气的一种尝试。但是目前Chacha的服务质量和方式离用户的期望还是有相当大的距离的。
