HouseBeautiful.com announced yesterday a partnership with technology company Pixazza to enable users to make purchases from online images that are displayed within ads and editorial content.

Readers can mouse over images to learn more about the products and can instantly make similar purchases from other participating Hearst merchants. "When visitors browse these sites and scroll over various images, which may include anything from a swimsuit to a sofa, a card will appear with a selection of similar or complementary products. When the visitor clicks on a particular item, she is immediately able to make a purchase," said a press statement.

The campaign kicks-off with Glidden Paint, whose products will appear alongside décor-related features on HouseBeautiful.com.

"By integrating Pixazza's technology on HouseBeautiful.com, we deliver a compelling ecommerce experience while providing advertisers with an innovative way to reach their core audience when they're most engaged," said Kristine Welker, chief revenue officer, Hearst Magazines Digital Media. "At Hearst, we focus on offering our visitors relevant content and much of that is derived from the beautiful images that populate our sites. Our relationship with Pixazza enhances these images and provides advertisers with even more value."

Pixazza's service allows the team to curate the user experience by integrating the technology into very specific editorial environments and matching the products seen within online images to particular sponsors. Through the combination of technology and human tagging conducted by product experts, images are successfully matched with similar products available for purchase.

"For years, magazines have offered product guides detailing where to find featured items and showing individuals how they can get the look. Meanwhile advertisers looked for ways to surface their brands at the moment readers are most engaged. Now with the shift to online media and Pixazza-enabled images, site visitors instantly react to the products they like, benefitting brands in new and unexpected ways," said Chas Edwards, chief revenue officer and head of publisher development at Pixazza. "Hearst makes the ideal partner as we continue our quest to make images interactive. We are thrilled to help drive ecommerce, enrich the end user experience and provide even more value to Hearst's loyal base of advertisers."