There has been a great deal of attention focused on the search industry in recent weeks, with lots of activity being made by some of its top companies. Likewise, the subject of online advertising has become a hot topic on the internet, as the web continues to grow as the best outlet for businesses to get the word out about their products and services.

With all that’s been going on, eZanga.com founder and CEO Rich Kahn recently weighed in on two of the most talked about topics in the industry this week.

At Search Engine Watch, Kahn was one of many leading industry insiders to give a reaction to the big news of the search deal made between Microsoft and Yahoo and what it could mean in the long run.

“I believe Microsoft and Yahoo are going to have what it takes to slowly close the gap between their companies and Google,” he said.

Kahn also crafted a piece about the differences between SEO and SEM at Building43.com, lending his opinion on which marketing strategy is more effective in driving traffic to company sites.

The article, titled “SEO and SEM: Truth in Numbers” takes a careful look at both methods through extensive research before making a conclusion on which makes the better option for advertisers.

Econsultancy.com posted a case study article featuring an interview with Bedco Mobility sales manager Tim Pelton, whose company called on eZanga to help increase its calls and leads through its online advertising services.

In the article written by Rebecca Lieb, Pelton described how the increasing reliance on search and online marketing forced the company to rethink its presence in print advertising, which it has been doing for close to a century.

As Pelton described, the partnership with eZanga proved to be a wise move for his business which saw a 135.5 percent increase in online leads in just four months.

“It was cheaper to do search ads just here in Baltimore. So we were doing that just for economy, but I was getting lots of new leads. My business was back to what it was several years ago when we were basically the only ones around. There’s a lot of people who do what we do now. At that point, we realized we should have targeted the DC area, so we started a new campaign for that region. We’re really seeing results from it. It was fairly immediate and it’s been very steady…What they’ve been doing has been working. We’ve seen a definite increase and a steady increase since we started the campaign.”

The Middletown-Odessa-Townsend major league all-stars, sponsored by eZanga.com this summer, became the first ever three-time state champions after going undefeated in their regional and state tournaments this month.

Next up for the team is the Mid-Atlantic regional tournament in Bristol, Conn. from August 7-17. The all-stars will take on squads from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington D.C. Should they emerge the winner of the tourney, M.O.T. will then make a trip to Williamsport, Pa. for the Little League World Series in late-August.

Coverage of the team’s clinching win from Tuesday night, including photos and videos of the boys in action, can be seen here and here.

eZanga is in the news once again!

The June 14 edition of the News Journal included a look at eZanga’s continued growth in online advertising during a down economic period.

“With just 20-odd employees and a quiet local presence, the Middletown-based online advertising company’s revenue is multiplying at a faster pace than most any company in the Philadelphia region, and Fortune magazine has ranked it as the 15th fastest-growing advertising and marketing firm in the country.”

eZanga CEO Rich Kahn was interviewed for the article, which chronicles how far the company has come since its inception in 2003 and how its many services should help continue its expansion for years to come.

If you missed the article, you can view it along with some accompanying photos at DelawareOnline.com.

On March 9, 2009, DMNews published an article concerning the economic turmoil being faced by most Americans, and how it is effecting online search and advertising behaviors. Quoted in the article, “Search shift fuels recession-friendly keyword strategy,” was eZanga CEO, Rich Kahn. Rich provides a positive and professional opinion regarding the change in recent search trends. The article states:

Rich Kahn, CEO of search marketing company and search engine eZanga, agreed. “We always see changes in searching, but interestingly enough what we are seeing is an increase in searching” he said. “I believe that more people are using the Internet to find the better deals and get more research on what they buy, before they buy.”

It is reassuring to read an optimisitic outlook on such a bleak topic. Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Here’s some exciting news for eZanga.com!

On Jan. 30, PRNewswire ran a story on Yedda.com, the social “question and answer” hub used by searchers looking for real answers from real people. Since partnering with AOL, Yedda’s unique visitors have grown 1000% within the past year!

Mentioned in the article posted on EarthTimes.org was our very own, eZanga.com, as one of Yedda’s search engine partners:

Yedda forms part of AOL’s newly created People Networks business unit, and
in 2008, was incorporated into several prominent AOL programming and content
areas including: AOL Sports, AOL News, Walletpop, Stylelist and others.
Yedda’s Question & Answer platform has also been extended to more than 150
partners worldwide, including news and media publishers (such as The
Washington Times and The LA News Group); content websites (such as
WorldTravelGuide, ArticlesBase, and 5min Life Videopedia); search engines
(such as Omgili, Megaglobe, and eZanga) and strategic international partners
(Telecom Italia - Alice.it).  (excerpt taken from http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/social-question–answer-service,698541.shtml)

To read the entire article on Earth Times, follow this link! Congratulations eZanga!

eZanga is on the move again and all set for AdTech New York! We will be exhibiting on November 3rd and 4th at the Hilton in Manhattan.  If you are in the area, make sure you stop by and say hi to the eZanga team!  We will be at booth #810.

The good news seems to never end! Our CEO, Rich Kahn, was picked to present our recently launched social network, HopOnThis.com, to the attending press at AdTech.  He will be introducing HopOnThis on November 4th between the times of 1:30-2:30PM.  eZanga is honored to have the opportunity to discuss our new social network involving our integrated giveaway program.  We know Rich will do a great job!

We are excited to announce that your favorite t-shirts have arrived and have a new design!

As you know, we have a point system in effect with our upgraded Giveaway Program, HopOnThis website.  When you redeem your points earned, you are qualified to purchase items and enter raffles.  We are pleased to inform you that we will continue to send you a free t-shirt when you win a raffle drawing. In addition, you can also redeem your points for one of these coveted t-shirts in our Prize Catalog.

Here’s how you can enter raffle drawings:

Go into “My Hub.”  Find your “User Point Module” and click on the link to “My Points Page.” Next, near the bottom of the page, click on the Raffles link.  Here you can redeem your points earned and enter into the raffles of your choosing.  Your “My Points Page” will show all of the raffles you have entered.  The winner will be notified on the raffle expiration date.

So HopOn and start earning the points to bring you one step closer to winning Cash, Prizes and our New eZanga T-Shirt!!

A New Twist on Social Networking:  Cash and Prizes for Active Users of Meta Search Engine eZanga.com

NEW YORK – OBSNews.com - Social networking is big news across America and the globe with companies like Facebook and MySpace gaining millions of users and significant media publicity.  With the goal of helping users create community among their online peers, social network sites usually give free tools and resources to users to encourage them to spend more time on a given website.

Internet users have flocked to these sites to connect to and communicate with their network of friends and acquaintances.  The business model for many of these social network sites is an advertising-supported model that banks on user eyeballs.  But many web devotees suggest that free services alone may not be enough to get people to stay loyal to a network.

One company that is launching a greatly expanded version of its existing loyalty rewards program based on compensating users for interacting with the site, is the ‘meta’ search engine eZanga.com (http://www.eZanga.com).  eZanga.com’s CEO, Rich Kahn, said his company has always rewarded registered users of its search engine with things like cash giveaways, free Wii and Xbox systems, and free iPods.  Kahn’s company has given away an estimated “$100,000 in cash and prizes” over the past five years to users and indicated that his site is very popular with devotees of internet contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways.

Expansion into a social network that pays

eZanga has upgraded its platform to a complete social network and calls it HopOnThis.com (http://www.HopOnThis.com).  The new social network highlights the company’s popular frog mascot theme.  Members can interact with family and friends to share pictures and videos as well as meet new people.  Active members are rewarded with points that can later be redeemed for upgrade features and free prizes.

Some ways users earn points include:  referring friends to the network, creating and updating to a blog, and sending friends comments, pictures, videos, and the like.

Once a user has generated enough points they can go to the “Prize Closet” and redeem points for cash, free downloads, gift cards, and entries into monthly drawings.  Companies seeking exposure for their products are encouraged to contact HopOnThis.com to provide prizes to the network in exchange for free advertising on the site.

SOURCE: OBSNews.com

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) innovations can help companies save online advertising dollars

NEW YORK - OBSNews.com - Search engines have come to dominate how many of us use the internet, and Google and other search engines have generated billions of dollars in pay per click advertising revenues as a result. One phenomenon that has plagued the industry from its early days has many businesses worried about their bottom lines: click fraud.

Many businesses that choose to use a paid search strategy in their marketing efforts, also known as a search engine marketing (SEM) strategy, on the major and niche search engines, are continuously looking for ways to prevent malicious clicks from competitors or other web-malcontents on their ads to protect their internet ad budgets, company profits, and, ultimately, shareholder value.

Search Engine eZanga.com Steps Up

One search engine, a ‘meta’ search engine, or one that aggregates the results of other search engines, eZanga (http://www.eZanga.com), has introduced proprietary technologies on their internal network that detect and protect against click fraud efforts in real time. Their solution is known as Traffic Advisors 4.0.

The company, headed by search engine marketing expert and CEO Richard Kahn, also provides web marketing consulting services that include click fraud detection and prevention tools for businesses interested in all aspects of search engine marketing (SEM) including the deployment of coordinated marketing campaigns on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

New Ways to Fight Click Fraud

“We’re spending a lot of money on resources to ensure that the click fraud that comes into our network is being eliminated before it hits our customers,” said Kahn. He also pointed to his company’s close relationship with Click Forensics, (http://www.ClickForensics.com), an industry leader in scoring, auditing, and improving traffic quality for the online advertising community.

Kahn added, “Click Forensics is setting the industry standard, as demonstrated by Yahoo’s adoption of their proprietary technologies.”

Steve O’Brien, VP of Marketing for Click Forensics, said, “eZanga is a case study in effective traffic quality management.”

SOURCE: OBSNews.com

This article has been featured in some major online publications. Here are a few you may recognize:

MarketWatch.com
Forbes.com
Reuters
Los Angeles Times
Yahoo!