Big Changes At ChaCha

ChaCha is a company that I work for in my spare time.  It is mainly just fun money and a supplement to my full-time income.  ChaCha is a text message service.  People can text their question to CHACHA (242242), and they will receive an answer from a real person who has researched their question.

I've been working for them since around August 2008 and have been really happy with the opportunity!  As a ChaCha guide, I make 20 cents per question.  In order to be a "top guide" and make that much, you have to do at least 200 questions per week and have a 95% quality score.  If you don't reach those qualifications, you only make 10 cents per question.

Many people working for ChaCha freak out each week wondering if they made "top guide" again to make the premium pay.  I've never really had a problem reaching it, and I have never understood how it is so hard for others to make "top guide."

In the last couple of days, ChaCha has made some big changes to the pay scale.  Now, instead of getting paid either 10 or 20 cents per question, the questions are going to be rated on their difficulty according to the category they are in.  The pay scale goes anywhere from 10 cents to 22 cents.  The "top guide" program will be complete obsolete as of February 18.

There has been an EXPLOSION of activity at the ChaCha official forums!  People are NOT HAPPY with this change, and I am one of them.  Basically, ChaCha just told us that we will be making LESS money, but cloaking it in a very "lets all get excited about these changes" sort of fashion.

The question categories and their pay rate seem to be very unfair.  Only two categories of questions now pay 20 cents or above (air travel and mathematics).  Those questions are very few and far between.  Most questions to ChaCha are people look ups, horoscopes, directions, sports, jokes, sexuality, etc...  ALL of those questions are now 15 cents and below.

Some of those more frequently received questions can be VERY difficult, and I do not agree with ChaCha's decision on how difficult they are (according to the lower pay rate).  For example, some people send sports questions such as: "Who was the wide receiver for the Chicago Bears in 1972, and what were his stats for that year."  That question is pretty straightforward, but it takes much more research and time than say, "What is the definition of personable."  But, both of these questions generate the lower pay!!

I'm pretty sad that ChaCha has basically just told me that I will be making 1/4 less money for the same amount of work because now I will be making an average of 15 cents per question instead of 20 cents.  I guess that I shouldn't be surprised, though, what with the economy the way it is...

Anyone else work for ChaCha?  How do you feel about these changes?