Miva wins search contract for relaunched Express Newspapers' sites

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 10-Aug-05

LONDON - Express Newspapers has appointed Miva to handle online search across its websites including the recently launched news and gossip digest Daily Snack.

Miva, which rebranded from Espotting in June, won the contract after bidding against Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions and Infospace.

It will now be the default search partner across Express Newspapers' sites, including Daily Express, Daily Star, OK! Magazine, Happy Magazine and Daily Snack.

All the sites were relaunched on August 1 as part of Express Newspapers' investment in online media. This came after years of zero online investment at Richard Desmond's empire. He famously sold the company's four websites to a stockbroker for the nominal price of £1 and the sites were subsequently closed down in December 2000.

Only www.Megastar.co.uk, the former website of the Daily Star was spared. It was sold off by United Business Media to sports and data website Sports.com in a deal worth less than £100,000.

Miva will provide a search function and place relevant, targeted advertising across search and content.

"We chose Miva because the company showed a willingness to work closely with us to develop bespoke solutions that will complement our brand and enhance our readers' online experience," Farzad Jamal, internet development controller of Express Newspapers, said.

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