Under the terms of the deal Emap is using functions of IAP such as Guided Navigation, which dynamically categorizes content based upon what the user is viewing, to increase the stickiness of the respective sites. It also allows Emap to provide contextually relevant advertising and promotional content.
UK-based Emap already claims a five-fold increase in page impressions for its MCN web site since IAP was deployed and the site re-launched. The company also said that the number of registered user for its golfing site had also tripled as well.
MCN reportedly now has 330,00 plus registered users and generates 5 million page impressions each month, and Today’s Golfer 100,000 registered users with 2.5 million page views per month.
Whilst both the brands supported by IAP were first established as printed publications, Emap, which has a further 300 brands across its Communications and Consumer Media divisions, is competing for advertising revenues across all channels, and like other publishers is seeing a downturn in magazine advertising, currently 13% lower across the sector.
Mike Davis, a senior analyst of information management technologies at UK-based Ovum, believes this is both a necessary technology shift for Emap and yet another good win for Cambridge, US-based Endeca.
By offering up content that site users would find appropriate and advertisements that are relevant to the subject they are viewing, Emap believes it has an advantage both in terms of user loyalty and time on the web site, and the effectiveness of the advertisements in converting interest into a purchase.
Davis notes that Endeca’s last major UK win was for BT.com announced 3 months ago. Endeca outsed two sets of search and discovery products from UK rival and market leader Autonomy in the process.
Endeca is privately-held and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company head-on with the likes of Norway’s Fast Search and Transfer (FAST) in the search and discovery technology market. Already Endeca is making moves to target Convera’s RetrievalWare customers that FAST acquired from Convera earlier this year.
Given the raft of brands and products within the Emap stable, Davis believes that Endeca has some significant up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. But potentially more powerful is the demonstrator status of such high-profile and relatively high-volume sites.
