Money is being made in Social Media… what is your exposure?

By the time well known companies like Groupon, LinkedIn and Pandora have gone public via IPO, the big money in those companies has likely already been made by the initial venture capital investors. Investors looking to cash in on social media trends can look towards undiscovered companies that are already public for upside. CrowdGather is a leader in an under recognized segment of social media – online forums – and trades below book value.

Technology stocks have come a long way since the Internet bubble burst in 2001. Technological advances have combined with social media applications to create highly-profitable business models. And many of these companies are changing the way that consumers interact with each other and purchase goods and services.

At the forefront of the revolution, venture capital continues to pour into the Internet sector with 308 deals inked during Q3 2011 worth nearly $3 billion. Internet IPOs are also coming back. Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) and other Internet IPOs priced above their targets with lofty valuations. And as the macroeconomic environment starts to improve, investors can expect to see more of these IPOs, given the many strong companies in the VC pipeline.

This growth is supported by the Internet’s exponential worldwide growth. Between 2000 and the end of 2011, the number of worldwide internet users will grow from 361 million to more than 1.8 billion, according to InternetWorldStats.com. Meanwhile, the money companies spend advertising online is projected to grow from $25 billion in 2010 to over $50 billion in 2019, according to Goldman Sachs estimates.

CrowdGather is a Leader in Social Media

CrowdGather is a leading social media company trading at below book value as compared to Groupon, LinkedIn and Pandora, which are all trading at much higher multiples of book value.

CrowdGather Inc. (OTCBB: CRWG) has been a unique player in the burgeoning Internet and social media sector since 2002. Through its network of online forums and message boards, the company attracts 230+ million page views and 16+ million unique visitors each month. The company monetizes its network with a proprietary advertising network that achieves higher-than-average CPM rates.

Forums are social communities that attract similarly interested users, which is believed to make them very attractive for brand advertisers looking to target specific groups. The intrinsic design of forums also makes them very cost-effective to own. Minimal staffing is required and they yield very low cost, search engine friendly, user-generated content.

The Company’s CEO, Sanjay Sabnani has been building out his vision for CrowdGather since he acquired his first forum community in 2002.

CrowdGather Catalysts

• Improving CPM Rates driven by Growth
  Forums traditionally earn less than almost any type of online publisher ( < $1.00 CPM ) because despite the fact that they are very targeted, they tend to be too small for major advertisers to pursue. Sites like Huffington Post earn $15 CPM and online newspapers like the NY Times can make as much as $25 CPM. Through targeted acquisitions, CrowdGather has been slowly but surely increasing its presence in niche verticals by aggregating similar interest sites into advertiser friendly channels that provide subject matter targeting along with scale.
• Social Media Marketing
  Brand Advertisers are getting more and more interested in pursuing social media content marketing opportunities. CrowdGather has one of the world's largest networks of discussion communities which positions the company to bring advertisers viral, word of mouth campaigns that are related to a community's vertical and interests. Towards this end, CrowdGather will be launching the world's first "Made for Social Media" fragrance called Erox. Launch is expected in early 2012 and could be a driver of revenues along with providing a success story that will help showcase the Company's social media marketing savvy to advertisers.
• Continued Acquisitions
  CrowdGather has increased its network traffic from 12 million pageviews in 2009 to 235 million monthly pageviews right now. This growth has been driven by acquisitions and the company is in a cash position to continue its acquisition strategy.
• Erox Fragrance Serves as Proof-of-Concept
  CrowdGather recently announced that it would launch a social media campaign, featuring reality star Adrianne Curry, to market its Erox fragrance. The campaign will be introduced through the company’s forum network and represents the first of many potential products to be marketed through these channels.

About CrowdGather Inc.

CrowdGather Inc. is one of the leading networks of forum communities on the Internet. CrowdGather has created a centralized network to benefit forum members, forum owners and forum advertisers. It provides a highly interactive and informational social network for members, a management and revenue-sharing resources for third-party forum owners, and a largely untapped network for marketers worldwide.

The company specializes in monetizing a network of online forums and message boards designed to engage, provide information to, and build community around, users. The company is building what could be one of the largest social, advertising and user generated content networks by consolidating existing groups of online users that post on message boards and forums. The goal is to create the world’s best user experience for forum communities and world-class service offerings for forum owners. Communities built around message boards and forums provide one of the most dynamic sources of information available on the web because forums are active communities built around interest and information exchange on specific topics.

This web site contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events and the Company's growth and business strategy. Words such as "expects," "will," "intends," "plans," "believes," "anticipates," "hopes," "estimates," and variations on such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, changes in the Company's business; competitive factors in the market(s) in which the Company operates; risks associated with operations outside the United States; and other factors listed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.