From the desk of Strategic Resources
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Volume: XVIV

January, 2009

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In these hyper charged times where news comes in as fast as it becomes outdated, we need a source that can keep track of what matters to us. At ZenithOptimedia we have created Wavelength to apprise all of us of the happenings in three areas i.e. 1. Trends in Digital, Retail, OOH, Consumers and the International Advertising 2. Media & Advertising Research 3. Environment

Also included here are innovations and news that ZenithOptimedia is making across its network globally, under three sections 1. ZO Zone 2. Fast Forward 3. Touchpoints.

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Fast Forward

Google Local Search now covers 41 Indian cities

Google India has said its Local Search service, which enables users to find information on local businesses like restaurants, shops and hotels, now covers 41 cities across India. Previously, the service used to provide information about eight cities in the country. Google Local Search was introduced in India in August 2007. Besides B2C (business-to-consumer) information, the service also hosts B2B (business-to-business) information of merchants, manufacturers and service providers.

The cities currently being covered by Google Local Search are Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Vadodara, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ernakulam, Cochin, Ghaziabad, Bhubaneswar, Aurangabad, Lucknow, Nashik, Indore, Goa, Bhopal, Agra, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Patna, Vijayawada, Mangalore, Ludhiana, Mysore and Raipur.

According to Alok Goel, product manager, Google India and head of Google Local Search in India, most of the traffic for online searches in India comes from Tier II and III cities. “Around eight to ten lakh people in India make queries about local businesses online and around 90 per cent of those searches come from these cities. Thus to expand our horizons and reach more people, we have launched our services in more Indian cities. Very soon we will be launching our nation-wide service for Local Search,”.

Google also offers similar service on mobile platform through its SMS Search. Launched in November 2008, Google SMS Search allows users to SMS their query to 9-77-33-00000 at the cost of a regular SMS and get instant answers. “Mobile will drive internet penetration in local India and hence we have introduced the local search service on the mobile platform as well,” Alok Goel has added.

Presently, Google Local Search supports searches in 15 Indian languages and provides search results along with maps to help users find out the exact location of the businesses. The company also has a service called Local Business Centre which allows local businesses to list their services for free.

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This tracker has been compiled from external sources and does not necessarily reflect the views of the company.
Links provided will take you to the full articles appended at the end of the file.