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Tag: ZEE5 India

  • Inside ZEE5’s strategy to scale its upcoming UGC section

    Inside ZEE5’s strategy to scale its upcoming UGC section

    MUMBAI: In its quest to become an entertainment super app, ZEE5 is soon getting into user-generated content platform Hypershots. ZEE5 India expansion projects business head and product head Rajneel Kumar seems confident about the new user-generated content (UGC) venture with the expectation that it will start to spike soon.

    “Over the last year we have been focused on moving away from two primary types of content, catch-up TV content and original programming, to get into different types of content use cases that we create for users,” Kumar said in a virtual roundtable hosted by Indaintelevision.com. He added that it got into the music video, live TV, news bouquet sections including channels outside the Zee network.  

    He mentioned that it launched a gaming platform Play, which saw good traction initially. It has experienced upto six sessions per day per user each of eight mintues and which cemented the decision to build UGC as another use case on the platform.

    Kumar said that they had to approach tech stack and product stack very differently for UGC. He added that while consumers want an immersive experience of OTT content that happens on landscape mode whereas they have to look at a portrait mode for UGC coupled with a full-screen experience. To tackle UGC content, it went on even changing the kind of streams that it uses i.e., moving away from the traditional HLS with DRM etc., to moving on to mp4 and more importantly being able to optimise that. 

    Asked about the progress, Kumar answered that it is at the beta stage of testing for the UGC platform. He added that ZEE5 is trying to integrate it into the core application but carefully by taking into account performance on all device types.

    “For us, user experience suddenly has a new complexity. We are putting a mid-budget movie next to a creator from anywhere and for the user either of the content can be important or one might be more important than another. That’s why we are working on hyper-personalisation. At the very core of it, the more personal we make the platform, the better we will be able to alert the content for consumer and that cuts across UGC, catch-up, original and every other segment,” he added.

    During lockdown many users started discovering more original content. Hence, the platform has seen a spike in its subscription. It has seen a significant spike on its news content as well during this period. Kumar said that they put the high effort for personalising recommendation around news to make sure that it is localised.

    “When you are going from eight million to 100 million DAUs, of course, there is a completely new paradigm we will be dealing with. All of the systems will be tested because the concurrency of users coming on the platform also suddenly changes. Every single layer needs to scale up. The good part is companies like us have always been cloud-native and we are working with scalable companies. Also, core technology providers like AWS, Google have also moved to a serverless deployment where you don’t need to really linearly scale one after other, you could have multiple instances ready at the same time. The ecosytem is coming together to support,” Kumar said.

    However, he mentioned that it would be an interesting challenge to see how they differentiate the UGC section from existing ones by offering various propositions to bring more users to the platform.

  • ZEE5 India unveils its new brand campaign

    ZEE5 India unveils its new brand campaign

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 has amassed a loyal following due to its unique premium content library on offer across genres and languages catering to diverse consumer taste clusters. With a mix of Originals, shows, music and movies in 12 languages, the platform has a bespoke catalogue of premium content for the audiences across the country.

    Recognizing this very diverse, new-age audience’s choices and expressive attitude, ZEE5 has launched its new campaign for their ZEE5 Premium offering – “Atrangi Dekho. Atrangi Raho”. ‘Atrangi’ celebrates eccentricity of audience choices pertaining to their life decisions and content that they consume and as part of the campaign, ZEE5 acknowledges the persona and content choices that are unique to this new-age audience. ZEE5 through its wide-ranging, premium subscription-based content encourages the viewers to become Atrangi.

    Today, content consumption is a driving factor in shaping up one’s identity and ability to connect to each other, either personally or professionally. The choices an aspiring youth makes to entertain themselves in the current digital era is also driven by the circle of influence, acceptance in peers, friends.

    The campaign attempts to narrate the reality that in an increasingly connected environment, where great ideas flow each minute, all of us have access to a creatively charged world. A world where individuality and quirks are celebrated. And this change in mindset is a result of the vast spectrum of content we have. Gone are the days of the saying ‘you are what you eat’. Today, ‘you are what you watch’. 

    ZEE5 India senior vice president SVOD head Rahul Maroli said, “India lives in their languages and ZEE5, through its bespoke and premium content offering in 12 Indian languages want to cater to all such audiences. Our new SVOD campaign ‘Atrangi Dekho. Atrangi Raho’, celebrates the very eccentric identity that an individual parades by challenging the status quo. As India’s Entertainment Super-app, we want to reimagine content by our unique storytelling approach which reflects the intrinsic fabric of our culture. We are thankful for all the love given to us by the audiences and we aim to enhance their content viewing experience as we move ahead in our journey to entertain India 24×7.”

    What’s Your Problem managing partner and COO Amit Akali explains, “When it comes to content, there’s a certain consumer who’s the pioneer and influencer, the one who always looks for different, cooler, Atrangi content, finds it and then is followed by the others. He/She is Atrangi and one of the ways this Atranginess is expressed is through Atrangi content. Which they find in abundance on ZEE5, be it original shows like Rangbaaz, or cutting-edge movies, Hindi or the best of original regional content. They are the one who others admire and wonder how they are always ahead of the curve. That’s the consumer we wanted to celebrate by saying, “Atrangi dekho, Atrangi raho.” While executing the film it was important that we captured this inherent coolness or Atranginess in every possible way; the cast, the music, the writing, the attitude. That’s where Arun Gopalan and Storytellers did their magic, making every frame look beautiful and celebrating the Atranginess in it. Like every WYP campaign, there’s a full-fledged digital burst planned across platforms. The idea is also to tie up with people connected to the large Zee family, innovatively as influencers, to reach out to the Atrangi in all of us.”

    The content we watch, the characters we identify with, the stories we live through, are great factors in shaping up our identities. And the campaign encourages one to connect with these Atrangi stories on ZEE5 and encourage to be an Atrangi yourself.

    ZEE5 has something to offer to everyone, right from original content, digital movies, shows, news and so on. As a new age platform, ZEE5 understands changing mindsets and trends of the changing landscape of India and the digital transformation. This campaign is a step in further in strengthening the ZEE5’s connects with their audience and giving them a space to happily be as Atrangi as they can.

  • ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial to chair IAMAIdigital entertainment committee

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial to chair IAMAIdigital entertainment committee

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial has been appointed chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) – digital entertainment committee. He takes over from Ajit Mohan, managing director, Facebook India. 

    Viacom 18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit has been named the new vice chairman, succeeding Kurate Digital Consulting senior partner Uday Sodhi. The digital entertainment committee at IAMAI represents all prominent members of the video on demand and audio on-demand companies such as Netflix, Zee5, Prime Video, Hotstar, Sony Liv, Viacom18, RJio Studios, MX Player, Hungama, Discovery, Hoichoi, Arre, Hooq, Gaana, Saavn, Flickstree among others.

    IAMAI has been in communication with MEITY, MIB and MHA during the lockdown period as the liaison between the industry and government officials. The association has earlier communicated to the officials about the collective efforts taken by the sector to assuage the impact of lockdown, and suggested an industry SoP for the sector to resume operations post lockdown.

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial said, “The digital entertainment sector, similar to the rest of the economy, is going through challenging times due to Covid2019. At IAMAI, our immediate task at hand would be to seek support from the Government, policymakers, local authorities to resume production activities at the earliest. This would go a long way in supporting various supply chain linkages, citizen’s livelihood and contribution to the national exchequer.”

    IAMAI has also identified some larger issues which have emerged due to the current pandemic and the same will be raised with the MIB on priority. In addition to these, some long pending issues hindering the growth of the sector will also be discussed.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • ZEE5 strikes partnership with Samsung ‘My Galaxy’

    ZEE5 strikes partnership with Samsung ‘My Galaxy’

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 today announced its partnership with Samsung ‘My Galaxy’, the all-in-one entertainment app for Samsung smartphone users. The partnership will open up a new world of digital entertainment for Samsung smartphone users by giving them easy access to ZEE5’s vast content library available across 12 languages and genres. The digital content partnership will offer a seamless OTT experience to Samsung smartphone users and they will be able to access ZEE5 content from within the ‘My Galaxy’ app without installing the ZEE5 app separately.

    ZEE5 India business development and commercial head Manpreet Bumrah said, “With a wide range of entertaining content, ZEE5 with over 100+ originals across genres and languages, is India’s entertainment super app and largest original content producer. We are extremely delighted to have partnered with Samsung for their flagship ‘My Galaxy’ offering and we are confident that this synergy between the two iconic brands will further augment the entertainment quotient delivered for the audiences across Samsung devices anytime, anywhere.”

    Samsung India senior director – content and services Pramod Mundra said, “Keeping in mind the evolving entertainment needs of Indian consumers, Samsung is delighted to bring exciting content from ZEE5’s bouquet of original shows, movies, Live TV channels, and catch-up TV on its ‘My Galaxy’ App. We are confident that this content will resonate well with our consumers and keep them entertained on their Samsung smartphones.”

    Samsung smartphone users can for the first-time use ZEE5 directly without having to download the app from Google Play Store. Samsung smartphone users can simply register and start consuming ZEE5 content from within the Samsung ‘My Galaxy’ App. They can also subscribe to ZEE5 to stream premium content. Consumers get access to over 1.25 lakh hours of great content in 12 languages across original shows, movies, Live TV channels, and catch-up TV.

    ‘My Galaxy’ app provides Samsung consumers in India exciting content to meet their growing entertainment needs. It offers a unique all-in-one experience including videos, music, games, news and personalised offers and updates.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • ZEE5 India bolsters its ad:tech offering with key senior level appointments

    ZEE5 India bolsters its ad:tech offering with key senior level appointments

    MUMBAI: With a vision to augment its growth trajectory in the Ad:Tech space, ZEE5 has further strengthened the team by on boarding three industry veterans led by Anita Nayyar, ex-CEO of Havas Media Group, India & South East Asia, Jayesh Easwaramony, a seasoned entrepreneur and an expert in the tech and media world known for his ability to scale businesses, and Dhruvadeep Roy, who formerly was the head of digital platforms at DAZN.

    These new hires along with the current ZEE5 team will be spearheading and be responsible for paving the next phase of ZEE5’s advertising business growth.

    An industry veteran, Anita Nayyar, in her new role as head of customer strategy and relationships, will help build the agency-partner eco-system for ZEE5 India business. In her expansive career spanning of over 20 years, Anita has been instrumental in driving strategic business development, client relations and creative narratives for brands across her stints at varied Indian and Global firms. An alumnus of IGNOU in Masters in Management, she has been responsible for driving growth at Havas Media Group as the CEO India & South East Asia. She has been acclaimed and received accolades on various platforms over the years for her leadership and achievements.

    While Jayesh Easwaramony joins ZEE5 as a consultant for Ad:Tech to drive all advertising, user data and audience-related initiatives, right from strategy to implementation with vendors and product teams. He has been an integral part of the team that has been instrumental in building the Ad:Tech capabilities of ZEE5 India. Prior to this, Jayesh was responsible to drive the APAC business of Softbank-invested advertising firm InMobi for several years and helped scale their business manifold, from setting up the Asia team to creating deep partnerships with advertisers. He brings with him vast expertise in digital advertising and data monetization. With over 20 years of experience in TMT, he has worked both as a consultant and executor in companies such as Frost and Sullivan, Tata Sky, Star India and Tata Group.

    The third leader, Dhruvadeep Roy who joins ZEE5 India product team as director product – AdTech, will be responsible for leading all the product initiatives within AdTech and help ZEE5 move towards building a self-serve platform. He brings with him an array of experience spanning over 16 years and was leading the platforms and product at DAZN sport streaming service across the UK, US, Canada and APAC in his previous avatar. He has also worked with streaming services such as SoundCloud, Xbox in Microsoft and Apple Music. Dhruvadeep holds a BSc in business administration majoring in digital media from the University of Bedfordshire. Originally from Mumbai, he has lived in Kolkata and has been living in the UK since the last 22 years.

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial said: “I am ecstatic to share that ZEE5 has already taken a step towards flagging-off its next phase of growth by welcoming three acclaimed leaders of the industry to lead the advertising tech business. I welcome Anita, Jayesh and Dhruvadeep to the ZEE5 team and I am confident that their experience will further enable ZEE5 to achieve even greater heights. This current strengthening of our leadership team is line with a clear focus to build a robust digital advertising eco-system like no other.”

    Anita and Jayesh will work closely with the recently hired chief revenue officer Rajeev Dhal to script the next chapter of growth for the platform. The library of knowledge and skills that all of these leaders possess, will give ZEE5 an advantage to truly be India’s Entertainment Super-App!

  • ZEE5 India appoints Rajeev Dhal as chief revenue officer

    ZEE5 India appoints Rajeev Dhal as chief revenue officer

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, the digital entertainment destination launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), has appointed Rajeev Dhal as chief revenue officer in order to bolster its advertising sales and operations vertical.

    Rajeev will succeed Taranjeet Singh who was a key member in setting up the advertisement revenue stream and played an instrumental role in framing the architecture of the industry-first Ad Stack. During his tenure, he has helped build and drive the sales and sales support teams of ZEE5 India.

    In this role, Rajeev will report to ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial. This appointment demonstrates company’s commitment to invest in its leadership talent to foster continued growth, especially in the realm of digital revenue.

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial, said: “The strength of our business and the momentum experienced in the last two years of our existence have made us a leader in the video streaming space. From delivering bespoke content in 12 Indian languages to being available across the spectrum of devices to launching new product offerings within the ZEE5 app, we have truly made ourselves ubiquitous and consumer’s go-to entertainment super-app. With Rajeev’s appointment, we are confident that with his extensive amount of experience and his inclusive leadership skills, he will be able to guide the Ad Sales and Operations function to the next stage of our growth in India, and we’re excited to have him on the team.”

    He further added, “In Taranjeet, we had a man with undying passion to contribute to the overall ad sales business and simultaneously, adding value to the brands which were advertising on our platform. His relentless efforts in putting together the ad-suite model, an industry-first, have encouraged brands to leverage the massive reach of our platform to reach out to audiences across the country. On behalf of the entire team at ZEE5, I thank him for his valuable contribution and wish him all the best.”

    Rajeev has worked in the leadership position across a wide range of media and consumer internet companies in his career spanning more than two decades. Most recently, he was responsible for the revenue function at “SHAREit” – world’s largest p2p content sharing app.

    As the CRO of “SHAREit” he has established teams and revenue across India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, he was heading monetization at “Dailyhunt” where besides establishing a strong revenue function he has also built awareness and demand for Indic language advertising across all leading brands and agencies. In the last 13 years he has led four start-ups from scratch to scalable revenue models.

    In his new role, Rajeev will be responsible for achieving and delivering the revenue growth through Advertising Sales and Operations for ZEE5 India.

    He is an alumnus of MICA, Ahmedabad in communication and media studies.

  • ZEE5 opens up premium, new original shows for free

    ZEE5 opens up premium, new original shows for free

    MUMBAI: During this unprecedented situation and lockdown across the country, ZEE5 is providing an uninterrupted dose of entertainment to all those who are confined to their home via its initiative #BeCalmBeEntertained. As part of this initiative, ZEE5 will bring a slate of new original shows for its users to stream it across devices.

    ZEE5 India realises the gloominess that the nation faces today and hence the need to boost the entertainment quotient. And with shows putting their shoots on hold at present, the lack of newer episodes would leave a void for entertainment for the viewers.

    Premium and new original content which will be available for free streaming are Kar Le Tu Bhi Mohabbat – a romantic drama starring the iconic Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar; an epic love triangle drama Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai starring Ronit Roy, Mona Singh and Gurdeep Kohli; Baarish – a classic tale of different paths united by love starring Sharman Joshi and Asha Negi; and Ishq Aaj Kal to name a few will be available on the platform. Not only that, on offer would be a large bouquet of blockbuster movies, new exclusives, binge-worthy ZEE5 Originals, and bespoke premium content, all for free.

    ZEE5 India Programming Head Aparna Acharekar said, “As a responsible video streaming player, we are totally committed to undertake any preventive measures which would collectively help the entire ecosystem curb this unprecedented situation caused due to COVID-19 outbreak. With this new initiative, we want our audiences across the country to stay calm and enjoy responsibly by staying home whilst, catching up on their favourite shows/movies uninterrupted, across 12 languages on ZEE5.”

    Today, the world is fighting a battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. The reality of individuals, families having to be confined to their homes to be safe, is not an easy task. Social distancing is the need of the hour, however, the fact of being engaged, expressive and the need for entertainment is not going to go away. And the good news is, although there is nowhere to go, the #BeCalmBeEntertained initiative from ZEE5, promises to keep viewers entertained 24×7, across devices.

    The bespoke content which will be available for free includes:

    ·         Fresh / New exclusive show for the very first time on ZEE5

    ·         Premium movies made free

    ·         Popular ZEE5 Originals

    ·         Quick catch-up seasons of classic library shows

  • ZEE5 India improves customer engagement with Appier partnership

    ZEE5 India improves customer engagement with Appier partnership

    MUMBAI:  ZEE5 India today announces that in partnership with leading artificial intelligence (AI) company Appier, it has significantly improved its customer engagement- including a 3x jump in click-through rates and video sampling- through effective use of AI to uncover critical insights about its viewers.

     ZEE5 India launched in 2018 and as of December 2019, records more than 11.4 million peak daily users. As the audience grows, ZEE5 India is committed to understanding viewers at an individual level so it can hyper-personalize the most relevant content at the right time. This requires leveraging viewer data using AI to understand where people are in the customer lifecycle and how they consume content. With these insights, ZEE5 India defines and deploys a strategic mix of communication channels, content and consumption timeframes to ensure high acquisition, viewership, and retention rates.

     ZEE5 India implemented AIQUA, an AI-powered proactive customer engagement solution from Appier that allows marketers to drive engagement across all devices and channels. Using AIQUA, Appier helped ZEE5 India streamline data sources to ensure relevant customer engagement.

     “At ZEE5 India, we are committed to excellence when it comes to both our product and customer service, and we are always looking for partners with disruptive technology to help us achieve this,” ZEE5 India customer lifecycle management head Vani Dixit said. “To engage with and stay relevant to our customers, we need to leverage data efficiently using AI to better understand and reach them at times when they are most likely to take action. With Appier we reimagined how we make consumers’ content viewing experience hyper-personalized. As India’s largest producer of original content, it is our endeavor to make the consumer’s journey on to the ZEE5 platform intuitive and provide them with a seamless content viewing experience.”

    With AIQUA, ZEE5 India has increased the number of specific customer segments by 10 times- from just a few hundred to thousands- allowing for the most highly personalized content delivery. AIQUA also allows for quick development and adjustment of campaigns to meet the immediate and specific needs of viewers. ZEE5 India has increased the number of campaigns it runs through AIQUA by 2000 per cent since March 2019, running several hundred campaigns daily

    “Working with ZEE5 India has led to an excellent partnership, and we appreciate that the ZEE5 team has been so open with us about both their challenges and vision for success,” said Michelle Wong, Appier enterprise sales senior Vice President. “We look forward to continuing to support ZEE5’s growth through marketing excellence, and to helping them apply Appier’s AI solutions in the most effective ways to drive their business forward.”
     
    Appier and ZEE5 India continue to work together, maintaining the focus on attracting and retaining customers via customized outreach, leading to long-term, meaningful relationships with viewers.

  • Data has made us richer in thinking and approach: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    Data has made us richer in thinking and approach: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    MUMBAI: Data, touted as the new oil, has empowered creativity, especially in the segment of over-the-top (OTT) platforms. As audiences across the country are spoilt with options, streaming engines are integrating data massively in content strategy. ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar is also of the view that data has made the platform richer in thinking and approach, bringing a change in the decision-making of starting new projects as well as in content strategy.

    "Data is the first benchmark. It is the ammunition we have. Data is the new oil that runs the entire industry. The process is not different because all of these choices. Then again whether it is acquisition or buying, your filters will have to be the same,” she said.

    In a freewheeling chat with us, Acharekar, the mastermind behind all the great content ZEE5 is churning out explained how the decision-making process changed from what it was a couple of years ago. She also threw light on the evolution of the content strategy looking back at 2019 as time goes forward.

    While earlier a lot of commissioning was based on overall knowledge of what consumers in OTT want, now on the back of data they are noticing what each consumer likes. While ZEE5 has an enormous library of originals alongside catch-up content from the network, it’s important to keep a track of what a consumer is liking to retain him on the platform.

    According to her, last year the trends they picked up was different consumer sets and consumer tastes rather than the genres. She also added that most of the platforms have gone beyond from this typical thing of genres.

    “More than clear genres emerging as viewers, clear consumer taste evolved as viewers because at ZEE5 we tried out everything. We didn’t go after one genre because very early on we realised that if you go after any one type of content then you will get only one type of people, who are watching that type of content at multiple different sources. So for me to widen my base I have to keep attracting people who like different things,” she added.

    She also explained how the business and content strategy collide.

    “If two taste clusters overlap then we will make something that both of you like. The most valuable customer for us is the one who likes multiple things. If you are very rigid you are important for me but you give me less value. The ARPU I get from you is less. Content strategy is derived from business strategy,” she added.

    One big driver for the platform this year will be taking forward successful shows into the next seasons while the trend has been already set with Rangbaaz Phirse. As in last two years, the platforms have already set a base, now it plans to capitalise on all the wins that it had in the earlier seasons.

    “It is more of an evolution, not a change,” she commented on ZEE5's content strategy for 2020.

  • Publicis Capital bags the creative mandate of ZEE5 India

    Publicis Capital bags the creative mandate of ZEE5 India

    Mumbai : Carrying on with its winning momentum, Publicis Capital has bagged the creative mandate of ZEE5 India, India’s fastest growing OTT platform. The agency will manage the creative duties for the leading OTT brand across their AVOD, SVOD, Regional SVOD and Trade (B2B) verticals.

    The account will be serviced out of Mumbai.

    ZEE5 is a leading OTT player in India offering 12 navigational and featured languages across original features, live TV, catch up TV, lifestyle shows, children's programmes, exclusive short series and acclaimed plays. It offers an exhaustive array of content; with 80+ live TV channels and 1.25 lac+ hours of viewing across the languages of English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabi making it a complete video destination for OTT viewers.

    On appointing Publicis Capital as its agency, Manish Aggarwal, Business Head, ZEE5 India commented, “Earlier this year, we completed one year of operations. This year has been one of many learnings and insights. We were keen to bring on board partners who understand our business and have the ability to scale with us. As we continue to be the fastest growing OTT platform in India, we found Publicis delivering on all boxes. We look forward to partnering with Publicis in our next phase of growth.”

    On winning the account, Srija Chatterjee, MD, Publicis India commented: “In 2017, we inaugurated our relationship with the ZEEL family with the broadcast bouquet, in 2018 we expanded it by winning the mandate to launch ZEE5 in the international markets, and now in 2019, the team at ZEE5 India has awarded us the creative mandate for partnering the OTT business in the domestic market as well. It’s when we grow with our clients that we feel true gratification. We’re looking forward to this exciting journey and in partnering ZEE5 India to leadership in what’s an increasingly action-packed category.”

    Adding his views, Suraj Pombra, EVP, Publicis Capital said: “The decibels in the OTT category find no parallel today. The future leadership of content consumption is what all brands are fighting for. We feel privileged to have been chosen by ZEE5 India to partner them in what’s going to be a thrilling battle with daily non-stop action. With their unmatched content library that finds appeal across the country, ZEE5 is poised to be the go-to destination for all Indian viewers. Here’s to leading the change together.”

    ZEE5 is home to 1 lakh hours of On Demand Content and 80+ live TV channels. With over 3500 films, 500+ TV shows, 4000+ music videos, LIVE TV Channels across 12 languages, ZEE5 presents a blend of unrivalled content offering for its viewers across the nation and worldwide. ZEE5 also offers ground-breaking features like 11 navigational languages, content download option, seamless video playback and Voice Search.