A new search engine may make the steps to finding what you want online a little easier - or at least livelier.

Launched at the beginning of September, chacha.com lets users comb the Internet with a human guide.

ChaCha uses a real-time chat interface similar to AOL Instant Messenger.

After entering an item into the search field, a user is automatically connected to the most appropriate guide for the topic of interest. Guides are experts in subjects like arts, health, news, science, society and sports.

"People really like the one-on-one interaction they have with guides," said Danielle Stealy, ChaCha's online marketing director.

Guides add websites to the right side of the screen as they chat with the user on the left. The user can evaluate the websites as they appear and provide instant feedback to the guide. The guide asks the user more questions to clarify the search and provide better results.

"We wanted to solve the problem search engine users are experiencing with existing services - that is, the massive volume of search results they must sift through online," said Scott Jones, the site's co-founder. "Connecting experienced guides with those searching for information in real-time is a powerful thing and brings a whole new dimension to Internet searching."

The website still offers a traditional search, which directs users to websites that guides have provided for similar queries.

Many of the guides are college students, including some from the University. Guides can work as much or as little as they want, even from home.

ChaCha currently employs about 13,500 guides, Stealy said.

Business School junior Andrew Kritzer worked as a guide for ChaCha earlier this fall.

"If people ask you how to do things online, and you're good about finding odd information, you are the right candidate," Kritzer said in an e-mail interview.

Before he left because his course work got more time-consuming, Kritzer spent one to two hours a day working as a guide.

"The guide software is pretty easy to use once you are used to it," he said.

If one guide cannot find the right answer, another may take over.

"Sometimes I can't find exactly what it is the other person is looking for and have to defer them to someone else," said Engineering student James Wang in an e-mail interview.

Wang currently works for ChaCha. He learned about the company through job listings on the University's website.

The site is in an experimental state while the company works on fixing bugs, Stealy said. An improved version will be launched soon.

The payment system is also experimental. The website allows employees the option of an instantaneous "Pay Me Now" service. Guides can choose to have a ChaCha debit card that is directly connected to a ChaCha Internet account. At any time, a guide can click the "Pay Me Now" button and their accumulated funds are instantly transferred to the card.

The instant system is paying off for many of the employees.

"It has been a huge lifesaver for a lot of people," Stealy said.

Guides start at about $10 an hour. After reaching a certain experience level, guides may invite others to become guides - and make a bonus 10 percent of the invited guide's earnings.

ChaCha is entirely supported by advertising and is free to the public. Seventeen patents are pending for the technology.