Lesser Known PPC Companies
Many advertisers that are just beginning to promote their
websites, begin to consider pay per click advertising. Usually
whenever they discover pay per click advertising, the most obvious
choices are Yahoo Search Marketing or Google AdWords. However out of
hundreds of choices for pay per click companies out there on the
Internet, these are only two. There are many more options for pay
per click advertising. And often enough, advertisers will realize
that as popular as Yahoo and Google both are, they do not fill the
advertiser's needs. It is important for advertisers to remember that
there are alternatives out there for Yahoo and Google, whether they
are new and just now emerging into the pay per click advertising
market, or veteran supporters of smalltime business advertising. A
couple of these choices are reviewed and described below.
ChaCha.com
In the beginning of September in 2006, ChaCha.com was released as
being significantly different from the typical search engine
advertising company. One of the things that make ChaCha.com so
different is that they incorporate actual human beings into their
company, as search guides. This service is free of charge and
applies to users and advertisers that might be having trouble
finding their target audience, or what they want through organic
search engines. But what makes ChaCha.com truly unique is that there
are two different ways to use the search engine. An user can do the
standard search, using a keyboard. Or they can do a search with the
assistance of a real live, --human, guide to assist them in finding
the right links to solve their queries. Also, the guides are
specifically trained in different types of knowledge, this way the
user making the search has high chances of connecting with the
researcher that actually knows what they're talking about and want
from their query. A user can even request a specific search guide to
help them with their search, for a guide based on their areas of
knowledge in what's called the "ChaCha Underground." There were
about 2000 ChaCha search guides in 2006, and at that time there were
5000 more ready to be added; so by now, there has to be around
10,000 search guides willing to assist customers and users and their
queries. Search guides are paid for every search, they assist in and
are able to cash in their payroll at any time they choose, after any
period of which they been working, no matter how long they have
actually been working, whether it'd been an hour or a week.
One of the great things about ChaCha.com are that the search guides
are very polite and they ask pertinent questions in order to help
the user find exactly what they're looking for, in a fast and
efficient manner. There are also plenty of cost per click and cost
per action advertising opportunities available with ChaCha.com, but
they give no actual details, unless whomever is interested in
advertising contacts the sales area of their service. This can
benefit an advertiser in a lot of ways, for instance, there won't be
a lot of competition, and they can be assured of a certain amount of
professionalism within the company.
Some of the negative things about ChaCha.com, although they are a
great search engine, with great opportunities available for
advertisers, for instance, is that even if the search term has
already been searched thoroughly by a guide, the user making the
query may be presented with that search even if they've chosen to
search without the assistance of a guide. Also, some standard
searches that are made generally show, sponsored links that are
generally pretty relevant to the query, but when searching with a
guide the sponsored results can show completely unrelated paid ads.
RedZee
The pay per click advertising program offered by RedZee.com, is
equally as inviting as the animated red striped zebra that is its
online mascot. They also use the clean screen interface, that was
made famous and popular by Google, and initially they were famous
for the fact that they were a family-friendly search engine.
Compared with search engines that have been operating since the late
90s, RedZee is fairly new to having begun operating in 2002. The
founders of the search engine have strived to keep any kind of
pornographic influence away from their search engine, and in order
for adults and their children to be able to safely search the web,
without encountering any ads that incorporate adult themes. However,
by way of controversy RedZee.com offers a certain custom toolbar
download for searchers, that many forum threads claim, hijacks your
browser. Although this hasn't been investigated it hasn't exactly
been substantiated, one report claimed that the toolbar disappeared
from view when a spyware scan was ran after the installation of the
toolbar. Following the claim, the suspect item had a different name
than that of RedZee, and was afterwards removed from the registry.
The more positive aspects about RedZee.com, is that they do filter
out a high percentage of pornographic sites in order to keep their
search engines "kid friendly." They can also check for the
availability of a search term without the users having to open an
account with the site first. The highly pertinent and organized
information provided within their results, also highly appeals to
consumers and visitors.
However, there is still a large amount of concern revolving around
the toolbar. Advertisers choosing a program want real results; not
PPC programs that offer damaged and unsafe tools for their visitors.
Also, there are many concerns from the advertisers who are using the
program, that the majority of visitors are not making it past the
home page, or landing page. Both of these factors are very bad for
prospecting advertisers. Although, there may have been significant
changes made; in 2006 the site was still in Beta, so there may have
been some modifications made for the better. Hopefully, the site
will improve itself to a more efficient degree, making it more
popular for users and advertisers alike.
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