• by Charlene Weisler , Op-Ed Contributor, May 14, 2015

Richard Kahn, CEO of eZanga, “always had a keen interest in software development. I was even featured in a computer software magazine at the age of twelve.” He kept up his early interest, launching his company as a search engine and digital marketing company that helps convert traffic to clients based on standard analytics.

I sat down with Kahn and asked him how digital marketing is evolving, its impact on television and the types of analytics that help drive his business.

Here's an excerpt from the interview. A longer version is available here.

CW: Where do you see television headed?

RK: Most people don’t watch TV commercials. They DVR their shows, and fast-forward through them.

Soon you’ll see cable services that allow you to download an app onto your smart TV. You'll be able to watch television through the app, dropping the need for cable boxes, too. Those boxes are expensive to build, maintain, and support. And consumers want access to TV via the cloud. It’s more efficient, faster, easier to support, and much more cost-effective. When DVR moves to the cloud, I see providers taking the ability to fast-forward away, forcing users to watch commercials. It maintains the viability of TV commercials, which is declining now. TV is a great medium and I don’t see it ever going away.

CW: What do you see as the impact of mobile in the media industry?

RK: Mobile is going to see continued growth because it is right there in your pocket. Most people are on their phones more than they are watching TV these days. A phone isn't just a phone anymore. It’s your TV, your tablet, you social circle, to-do list, and more. With such a captive audience, it gets the message to people faster than any other means. We'll see more wearables, smarter smartphones, more robust features on our devices too. Advertisers should be ready to get their message out there utilizing these new technologies.

CW: Give me some predictions on how the media landscape will look five years from now.

RK: People will always need to advertise their product to bring new clients in. Whether it’s word of mouth, print advertising, or with media, they'll still need to bring in clients. That aspect of marketing will never change, but the ways to reach these clients continues to evolve.

Let’s face it, print media is dying. In the coming years, you’ll see marketing budgets and efforts shift from print to digital, if they haven't already. Companies will invest in internet-based advertising and social media marketing to amplify their messaging and increase brand awareness. With this comes the rise of video advertising, continuing its upward progression.

Search engines continue to grow as people turn to online versus print as a primary information resource. As a result, the ad-fraud industry will become increasingly important in protecting advertisers and publishers from unwanted or unscrupulous advertising practices. This is where I see my company eZanga making a difference. We look forward to the continued enhancements of our ad-fraud detection system, Traffic Advisors, and welcome new players to the landscape as well. I expect those trends to continue evolving, and I look forward to seeing what new technologies are developed as a result.