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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