The Great Indian Search Engine update
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Apologies for the title, but couldn’t resist using it!
So what is happening in the Localised Search sphere in India?
Onyomo launches mobile search portal
We first blogged about OnYoMo last October and recently mentioned about their tie-up with Big FM for mobile search…
Well the latest is that, Onyomo has launched a mobile WAP (wireless access protocol) site for local search. The site can be accessed through GPRS on www.owap.in on GSM phones. The service is also available via SMS, which works by sending keywords to a short code.
For now, the site will only be available in Delhi & NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune - to be soon extended to other cities. The site allows mobile users to search in 13 categories including ATMs, restaurants and movies.
Via Agency Faqs
MIH has launched Dwaar, an India specific search service.
Dwaar has 5 categories : Search India, Cities, Restaurants, Jobs, and Matrimony.
Reminds one of Bixee, which used to search for Jobs on Naukri, Monster, TimesJobs etc. They did run into some legal issues with Naukri I think.
Matrimony search reminds one of the recently re-launched Sapne.com
"At Dwaar, our mission is to simplify local & niche information for Indians and empower the community to participate in this process.”
They want to expand the search boundary to integrate the "offline India" - so that search is not limited to what’s online and one can connect with thousands of local businesses, services and professionals who may not have an online presence otherwise. Sounds old and cliched. We do hope that they have something unique to offer.
Via: Pluggd.in
What have Guruji been up to?
The guys who have been backed by Sequoia. I wonder if we can see a future tie-up with MingleBox?!
Guruji have launched Tamil and Malayalam versions. They appear rather excited about this on their blog.
Tamil and Malayalam search engines seem nice and regional - but would this encourage the highly literate Kerala population to use a Malayalam search engine instead of English? Or are they looking at targeting elderly people who would be more comfortable with Malayalam?
Is Guruji trying anything to promote internet awareness in Not-So-Net-Savvy regions and rural areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala?
Guruji launched their Hindi, Telugu and Kannada versions earlier in March.
Well as we can see, the local search market is really expanding and there is scope for even more. Especially in niche verticals.
A perfect example for that would be Burrp. They are doing a good job in the restaurant scene and I hope they don’t look at focussing on too much.
…And of course there is JustDial, who currently seem to be doing the best job in the Local Search sphere. Ziva Software (The guys behind JustDial) also launched a local mobile search service called Zook.
WAT Consult would be conducting a shoot-out between all the Local Search players and it should be up soon. So stay tuned.
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Hello ekalavya. You did not mention ByIndia.com which is very sad. They are leaders in indian search and have introduced multi-lingual search before Guruji. Also they got blogs and social networking.
Hi Mahadevan,
This post was just an update on what's the latest happening in the search engine market in India. We have covered ByIndia earlier in WATblog and we will definitely be including them in the search engine shoot-out.
Cheers,
Ekalavya
I seem to have started liking the new rediff search engine specially the image search which is really cool. I got a couple of forwards from friends of imagesearch - it cool but needs some adult pics to be perfect :-).
I also like the way rediff does the result - search for "wipro jobs" and it nice…these new sites come and go.
We got Rediff PR chaps lurking 24/7 on WATblog it seems
Although not a search engine, we compete with all the Indian Search engine using our easy to recall names, Local interface and google API results.
1) Hindi.co.in (हिन्दी.com )
Malayalam.co.in
2) Tamil.co.in
3) Marathi.co.in
4) Bengali.co.in
5) Telugu.co.in
6) Kannada.co.in
7) Gujarati.co.in
In addition, once India related google maps api becomes available (expected in few months), we plan to provide Local Directory @ Directory.co.in
Would appreciate if you could include us in your shoot-out .
ByIndia.com LOL they r doing their ads on cracks and porn sites :))
guruji telugu search is pathetic..a search for keyword 'hyderabad' gives zero results…hummm long way to go guruji
ILAKA is the twin cities most comprehensive resource locater. Simply put, we can find anything one. And all this with one of the mouse.
It works like this. You enter the site and describe your start position on the map. Next, you enter your destination or search for outlet or service. Within seconds you will shown the shortest route to your destination with important landmarks and relevant information to get you there. And because this map is updated regularly, you’ll always have access to going-on in the city.
Now imagine what this service could do for your business. Potential customers will notice your presence on the map and know exactly how to get your place of business. This will include tourists to the city, businessmen and travelers, foreign visitors and city locals who had no previous knowledge of your services.
EX:
Hyderabad Hotels, Hospitals, Banks, Movie Theaters, Schools, Shopping Malls, Real Estate, Automobiles..Etc search and find details with Route Maps in ilaka.in site.