Google AdWords users increaseby 96% in India

Bangalore, Nov. 19 -- Google India has seen a 96% annual growth in 2009-10 in the number of users of its searchlinked advertising business, and hopes to continue the momentumby targeting small andmedium enterprises. AdWords, Google's flagship advertising product and main source of revenue, plans to grow in India through its new regional language call centre providing assistance for online ad campaigns, particularly to an estimated 35 million small and medium businesses. Google sees large potential for continued growth in India with a pay-per-click feemodel with flexible budgets for advertisers, according to Richard Holden, director, product management for Mountain View, California-based Google AdWords division.

"We believe that advertising, if presented in the right way, is complementary to search results. And the notion of quality is important to us. We are very selective about how we use the space on the search results page," Holden said. "We don't want anything that will degrade user experience." The company's 14-month-old call centre in Gurgaon generates around 1,000 calls daily, and with a new centre in Hyderabad launched on Wednesday, Google is targeting a total of around 2,500 calls a day in six months, said Sridhar Seshadri, head of online sales, Google India. Around one million small and medium enterprises are currently on the Internet, Seshadri said, adding that Google's customers spanned financial services providers, small hotels, tour operators, handicraft exporters, jewellery stores, business schools and undergraduate colleges. The way Google prices its advertising is based on theories developed from research into auctions, Holden said. This gives advertisers the ability to optimize budgets and requirements, he said. The biggest bidders for keywords get to the top of listings; but user interest, as indicated by click-through rates, will also be a factor in the bidding, he said.

Nitin Khanapurkar, executive director (advisory) at consulting firm KPMG, said searchlinked advertising is an evolving space in India. "It remains to be seen whether people are able to overcome their scepticism about paid advertisements that get shown along with search results."

Published by HT Syndication with permission from MINT.

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com