Yahoo is all set to go local in India via 8 languages

Content now available in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil
Internet search engine, Yahoo, which reached 80 per cent of Indian internet users, is betting big on its plan of going local in India. By the end of 2012, it will have its content ready in eight Indian regional languages. It is even redesigning its home page to make it simple and user-friendly for young and old alike.

Yahoo India R&D, vice president and chief executive officer, Shouvick Mukherjee, said, “The superior design experiences includes creating an emotional connect with users. It is design friendly for older users who have just started using internet, as well as for the 18 year old internet users from a small town”. Currently Yahoo content is available in three Indian languages — Hindi, Marathi and Tamil.

Yahoo’s competitor, Google has expanded its translation services to include Indian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Two years back, Yahoo was accessed by 70 per cent of the Indian internet users. But now it is being accessed by 80 per cent of the Indian internet users, said, Yahoo, corporate communication, head, Arunav Sinha.

The company has been boosted by seeing the growth of local language internet users. Yahoo Tamil has grown by 160 per cent in page views in the last months, while Yahoo Marathi has seen a growth of 135 per cent in page views in a span of three months. Yahoo Tamil currently ranks at joint number 2 in the market in terms of user base.

Yahoo thinks its local content will have its share increase amongst the Indian internet users. Sinha said, “If the total internet users has to increase from current 100 million to 250 million, then it can happen only through local languages and not through English”.

The development of the new design and local look is being done at the Bangalore Yahoo R&D office, which has about 2,000 employees. Mukherjee, said, “In 2011, Yahoo India R&D contributed almost half of the ideas which Yahoo developed globally”.

The home page design will really reflect local culture and sensitivity to connect with locals. Sinha said, “Local icons, local symbols, and region specific contents would be available for those portals. For example if you go to Marathi.Yahoo.com, you can see images of Shivaji, trumpets and others”.

Yahoo didn’t specify the amount of investment for the local project, but Sinha added, “Every year Yahoo spends a $1 billion globally for R&D and a significant part of it comes to India”.

Source:http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/yahoo-all-set-go-local-india-8-languages-192
sameerrbakshi@mydigitalfc.com