Nasionale Pers Signs With Engage Technologies to Personalize Ads

Nasionale Pers (Naspers), an international publishing company headquartered in South Africa, will make its Web site one of the first to offer advertisers online ad targeting using Engage Technologies’ visitor profiling technology.

Naspers said it will replace its existing online advertising management software with Accipiter’s profile-enabled AdManager solution. Using this technology, Naspers will serve ads based upon unique Web visitor profiles built from data collected on the NasWeb site. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Engage and Accipiter are both subsidiaries of CMG Information Services and recently completed integration of their respective product offerings.

Naspers is implementing profile-enabled ad targeting as part of its recent deal with CMG affiliate Planet Direct to become the online content provider’s exclusive South African franchise.

Naspers publishes various newspapers in South Africa and produces two-thirds of all consumer magazines read in the country. Its Web site, NasWeb, hosts many of its most popular publications, as well as an online bookstore.

“Profile-enabled ad targeting will have a clear strategic benefit for us,” said Philip Meyer, chief executive of information services and technology for Naspers. “The combination of Engage profiling technology with Accipiter ad serving software enables us first to understand the interests and characteristics of our Web site visitors much better, and then to give our advertisers the ability to reach specific demographic groups within that audience.”