Gumtree is the biggest online provider of classified advertising in South Africa. Tiso Blackstar publishes brands that include the Sunday Times, Business Day, Financial Mail, Sowetan, Daily Dispatch and Herald.

Its online sites represent a combined South African viewership in the region of 6.5 million unique browsers per month.

"We are really excited about this partnership, combining the trust and credibility of our market-leading media brands, premium audiences and large numbers of online shoppers, with the utility of accessing Gumtree's incredible database of classifieds," says Lisa MacLeod, head of digital at Tiso Blackstar.

Claire Cobbledick, general manager of Gumtree South Africa, says, "This is a great opportunity to access new shoppers and audiences, as well as to bring a previously lost revenue opportunity back to publishers."

"Both Gumtree and Tiso Blackstar are using data to better understand our audiences and optimise the experience for them, and the preliminary results are great," she adds.

The deal sees the inclusion of Gumtree widgets and navigation links on the TimesLIVE and SowetanLIVE sites, pre-filtered for relevance on editorial sections and articles. It will also include native executions and contextual offers that leverage off and maximise large social audiences.

"There is a real opportunity in providing editorial context to classifieds, as research shows a greater propensity to buy when a reader is in a trusted environment," says Andrew Trench, group editorial director at Tiso Blackstar. "Add in the power of our combined audience data, and this takes it to a new level," Trench adds.

Tiso Blackstar offers deep editorial verticals around business, personal ?nance, lifestyle, food, motoring, entertainment, sport and fashion to deliver benefit for native advertising and bespoke client campaigns.

"We have already taken the idea to Gumtree's owner eBay, and they are excited about the possibility of collaborating with publisher audiences to the benefit of both parties. It really brings a new perspective to both our businesses," concludes Cobbledick.

The partnership will be expanded as more data is collected.

For more information, visit www.tisoblackstar.com or www.gumtree.co.za.