South African search engine Ananzi`s new look and feel went live this morning after testing over the weekend. The new site uses the popular Infoseek system combined with proprietary catalogue.
International searches use the Infoseek site, a part of the Go.com network.
"There are three important elements to [the redesign]," says Mark Buwalda, Ananzi business unit manager. "Speed, speed and quality. With South African bandwidth it must be fast. The page is as light as possible and we will continue to thin it down."
Buwalda says development on the new site started in late December. The Johnnic media subsidiary formerly known as Omni Media Corporation acquired Ananzi from I-Net Bridge in January.
"The acquisition certainly gave us the resources to bring in the best materials available," he says.
The various service sections of the site, including shopping and e-mail, have also been adapted to the new look, although the supporting systems remain the same.
"It is radically awesome," Buwalda says of the site and system. "It is up to par with anything in the rest of the world."
The only visible indication of Johnnic`s ownership on the new site is an advertising bar linking through to the parent`s other Internet properties, which include the Sunday Times and Business Day. Johnnic has indicated that Ananzi is to play a central role in its e-Ventures strategy as a traffic driver.
The company recently acquired a controlling stake in CareerJunction and plans to turn it into the biggest recruitment portal in the country.
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