2010 has been a decisive year for India’s local search market. If 2009 witnessed consolidation (Burrp acquired by InfoMedia18), 2010 happens to be the go-it-all year for local search providers.
Justdial, the market leader launched its US service, a toll-free voice search supported by call center execs and interestingly, few months later, Google shut down its voice powered directory search service
, givign Justdial the much needed space in the US market.
As far as other local search search services are concerned, the writing is on the wall. Except for asklaila, nobody else comes closer to Justdial, though the game is more of distribution & monetization (sponsored listings) and Justdial has a huge lead over any other company.
Askme, Infomedia18’s local service had a bad start (was sued by Justdial) and it’d be interesting to see if they can crack their mobile strategy (i.e. distribution).
As far as Yahoo India local is concerned, consider it a harmless competition, as not a single city has been added in the last ~2 years (and not all is well with CallEzee deal).
Do not expect more funding in this space (except in cases where rich gets richer, i.e. only a performing business gets the money). VCs, in my opinion aren’t ready to bet on a new company, unless they bring a lateral shift in data collection/distribution.
What’s your take on local search market in India? Is voice still the most viable platform?
2010 Recap of local search market in India
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Better late than never, Google shuts down voice search in India
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JustDial Goes Crowdsourcing For Data, Launches Reseller Program. Rs.15 Per Record
Recommended Read : Facts & Myths in Indian Local Search Space [Insights from an Insider]
* Note
– Comscore data in India is good for relative ranking (they do not track cybercafe data)
– We haven’t covered Google, Guruji and Sulekha in this roundup, as their local search strategies are integrated within their overall offerings.
