In a new addition to Reach’s suite of tools that are preparing publishers for a cookieless future, says the publisher, Neptune Recommender increases page views, user dwell time and engagement.
According to Reach, page-views through Neptune Recommender now account for 40% of their page-view growth since the start of the year. Now woven into their sites, it offers audiences of over 42 million visitors a month content choices from Reach’s digital newsbrand portfolio that resonate more closely with their personal interests.
Powered by Mantis, Reach’s AI-powered contextual safety tool, it uses machine learning and increased data points like category, concept, comment engagement and sentiment. Combining Mantis and PLUS+ data on pages previously browsed, the tool can hone into what content an individual would find appealing, with suggestions based on positive sentiment served up in a widget.
When a user browses an article on how to minimise food bills for example, says Reach, the tool can not only recognise the category of the article (cost of living), but also the concept of the article (budgeting specifically around food bills) which has attracted that user. The widget can then serve up helpful and relevant content that resonates with detail, like features on how to feed a family for £5, or food hacks and recipes, with a much more aligned sentiment than generic finance content.
The tool updates each time the user visits a page to keep topics current. It will be made commercially available to other publishers in the marketplace, and has the capability to be customised and adapted to advertising, says the publisher.
Terry Hornsby, reach group digital and innovation director, commented: “This is the future; personal, accurate and relevant content recommendation that feels tailored for you, honing in on what you are interested in at that particular time and what you will actually find helpful.
“Whether it’s the best sets from Glastonbury of all time, regional traffic news in your area, or hacks to keep your carbon footprint low, we need to recognise and treat our users as individuals, and we’ve focused on the technology and data strategy that can step up to the plate to do just that.”
Piers North, Reach chief revenue officer, added: "With a cookieless future on the horizon and more demand than ever from advertisers for contextual tools, we've used our unique scale to our advantage and created the perfect solution to serve up content that really resonates with our audiences.
“Neptune Recommender allows us to really dig down into our data to match up our journalism to individual users, strengthening our loyal audience across our networks, and keep them coming back for more.”
