Logic and order in content mass – a new search function with Fluentia’s help

Organizing and searching through large masses of data and content pose challenges for many companies. When Otavamedia decided to renew and unify the search function of their web services, they turned to Fluentia's experts.

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Looking for a straightforward way to search content from multiple sources

If the long-standing media house Otavamedia Oy itself is not familiar to all Finns, its brands certainly are. Otavamedia publishes more than 22 magazines, and its multichannel brands include: Anna, Kotiliesi, Tekniikan Maailma and Suomen Kuvalehti. Interesting content that serves consumers is at the core of Otavamedia's operations, and continuous renewal is part of its mission. As part of this renewal and more efficient, user-friendly services, Otavamedia invited Fluentia's experts to help create a new search function. The most important goal was, of course, to make it easier for Otavamedia's users to find content that interests them within the large amount of material available.

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Modern search function that adapts to many needs

First, with the help of Fluentia's experts, the content structure and a suitable data model for the need was defined. Otavamedia has a long history, and content has been created and digitalised at different times. A common model had to be found for the diverse data. It was also necessary to determine what data the search function needs and what is sensible to utilize from the user's perspective. Elasticsearch was chosen as the backend system for the search function.

Together with Fluentia, both an interface through which data can be imported into the service and indexed, as well as a separate middleware layer for the search function itself were created. The interface can be used to implement many different search views, and the search layer takes care of the necessary technical complexity. You can now search for content using a theme, for example: if a user wants to search for suitable content only in recipes of a specific magazine or boat articles under all brands, it can be done more efficiently.

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Both readers and creators as users of the search function

With the new search function, both old and new content receive better and more targeted visibility. Additionally, the search function supports a current trend in the media industry, i.e. paid content, which appears in search results alongside free content.

The new search function also makes the daily work of Otavamedia's employees and journalists easier, as articles are now easier to find.

"Fluentia found excellent solutions to both small and large problems, and the collaboration proceeded efficiently on schedule", says Riku Österlund, Otavamedia Head of Design and Technology. "Our users have been requesting a better search function for a long time, and I am pleased that we can finally offer them one."