According to Nielsen, ChaCha is the fastest growing SMS mobile search service for the second consecutive quarter, capturing more than 28 percent of the market.

ChaCha is speeding past Yahoo SMS and gaining significant ground on Google SMS. For advertisers looking for an effective way to reach their target demographic with low risk and high ROI, the mobile search and answers space will be an important space to watch in 2009.

"ChaCha is changing the landscape of the mobile search market -- it's not just about Google and Yahoo anymore as evidenced by ChaCha's popularity and explosive growth," said Susan Marshall, vice president of marketing at ChaCha, Indianapolis, IN.

"The user experience, ease-of-use and conversational nature make ChaCha a powerful tool that doesn't rely on algorithms or links like the rest of the market," she said.

It seems there are a couple factors impacting this growth in this market -- first is in part due to the launch of the iPhone 3G, G1 and Blackberry Storm which gives users the ability search anywhere at any time.

Additionally, the teaming of carriers with search providers is making search more pervasive - T-Mobile teaming with Yahoo, Google teaming with Sprint Nextel, AT&T teaming with ChaCha and Verizon potentially teaming with Microsoft.

According to Nielsen, ChaCha's 28 percent share of transactions is up from just seven percent in Q2, marking a 300 percent quarter over quarter gain, driven by a 660 percent quarter over quarter growth in overall ChaCha transactions.

ChaCha reports that it now delivers 30 million impressions per month and has had more than 2.5 million users since the SMS answers service launched in January.

In the same quarter that drew ChaCha's largest market share gain, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, the Obama presidential campaign, Palm and several other leading brands and agencies selected ChaCha's Rich SMS Advertising service to get their message out.

"The number of users in the market is astonishing," Ms. Marshall said. "Specific to ChaCha, our reach has the potential to influence the most coveted demographic which advertisers always seem to be after -- 16-34 year olds.

"Our sheer numbers provide a huge opportunity," she said.

In January 2008, ChaCha launched its free mobile answers service that uses human guides to find answers to consumers' questions 24/7 on virtually any mobile device.

ChaCha customers can send any question via SMS (242242) or voice (1-800-224-2242) and receive an answer back via a simple text message in real-time with no additional effort or cost.

Guides utilize powerful tools to quickly return a succinct, relevant and useful answer in a text message in real-time.

"It still feels like some advertisers want the desktop paradigm to work on a small screen," Ms. Marshall said. "But as more advertisers -- like McDonald's, Coke and Palm whom we've worked with -- turn to SMS, they are seeing incredible response rates, about 5 percent which is way above the industry average. SMS mobile advertising can target a customer based on location, search query and engages a customer because it's tailored.

"As more and more people use mobile search, marketers will have more measurable and targeted ways to reach users who are at a true 'point of need' while on the go," she said. "Users searching on their mobile phone really need something and usually right then -- which is much different than simply browsing or window shopping like you see on the desktop."