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Texperts

UK mobile search service

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ7708370
Source-derived summary

Texperts was a UK-based SMS question-and-answer service. In December 2008, Texperts was bought by the United States–based Knowledge Generation Bureau, operator of the 118 118 services, a directory services company which had also entered the SMS question-and-answer market. The service was later renamed Kgb Answers and is now defunct.

History

Re5ult Ltd was launched initially with a subscription-based service called 'Re5ult' on a normal mobile number. However, in August 2004 the service was launched on a premium text code and rebranded as 82ASK. In 2007, Re5ult switched phone numbers and brands again, relaunching the service as Texperts on short code 66000.

Performance

Posing the question "How many people [are] alive compared with all who had ever lived?", a Guardian journalist testing the service received an answer within five minutes, with the closest rival answering it in 22 minutes. A similar question asked for "a hotel in Ireland within half an hour of Rosslare en route to Westmeath" which received an answer within 15 minutes; a rival service answered a few minutes sooner and also provided prices which Texperts's response lacked.

Publications

In 2006, Texperts released the book Do Sheep Shrink in the Rain?, subtitled "Over 500 of the most outrageous questions ever asked", published by Virgin Books. The 256-page paperback is a compilation of questions received and answered by the service.

Editorial summary

“Texperts” enters the record as uK mobile search service. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Texperts, mobile and search can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 2004, 2007, 2006—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2003. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Texperts, mobile and search.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Texperts” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Texperts, mobile and search provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7708370. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2004, 2007 and 2006.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Texperts”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Texperts primary sources, Texperts archive and Texperts research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Texperts”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Texperts” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.