Before Smartphones, an Army of Real People Helped You Find Stuff on Google
Before smartphones, human-powered services like GOOG-411, 118 118, and AQA provided information. They declined with cheaper data plans, giving way to automated search engines, missing the personal touch and unique responses.
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Before smartphones, people used services like GOOG-411, 118 118, and AQA, where real humans answered questions. These services provided information before mobile data plans made it affordable to search on phones. For example, Americans could call GOOG-411 for local businesses, while Brits could use 118 118 or AQA for similar services. Behind the scenes, thousands of people were employed to answer queries. Paul Cockerton cofounded AQA 63336, where researchers answered texts with witty responses. The service gained popularity, even appearing on The Graham Norton Show. However, with the rise of smartphones and cheaper data plans, these human-powered services declined, eventually leading to their discontinuation. While automated search engines now dominate, the personal touch and unique responses from human search assistants are missed. The era of human search engines provided not just information but also warmth and flair in responses, creating a unique connection with users seeking answers to a wide range of questions.
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6 commentsI was an approved GA researcher back in the day. You could make some decent money if that was what you wanted to do all day.
Interestingly, the archive is still up in all its Web 1.0 glory.
> "...before affordable data plans, accidentally clicking the browser icon on your flip phone would make you sweat. In the early 2000s, accessing a single website could cost you as much as a cheeseburger, so not many people bothered to Google on the go."
My circa-2003 Sanyo flip had an app to stream video(!) and a browser that was very useful for simple things like Google search. Back then, before it became the preferred way to upsell, unlimited data was a $10 (later $15) monthly addon for me in the US.
It wasn't until I'd outgrown that flip, a Treo, and two HTC WinMo phones that it crept up to $30/mo for unlimited 3G data. With later phones the whole price structure had changed for the worse so I ended up switching carriers and data had mostly stopped being a flat addon to a phone plan.
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