Web Analytics India Blog

This has been due for some time now! It was a while ago Girish, wrote about how web analytics scope in India is related to online (internet) penetration in India.

This post focuses on current state of Indian internet and also current status of Web Analytics Industry in India.

Post1 is an overview of current status of internet in India, followed by a small research to understand the status of web analytics industry in india.

India Internet Overview

With a Population of 1.2 billion, 22 states 5 union territories , 22 official languages, GDP of 10% and above, and being worlds largest English speaking nation, India internet population is growing at a fast pace. According to the latest from IMNAI, internet user base grew by a whooping 40% to reach 46 million.

People have started to realize the importance of Internet in their lives where it is not just a communication mode to email, chat and get information but has become an enabling tool to perform various tasks over Internet like learning, networking, shopping, gaming and expressing themselves in the form of blogs to the extent of establishing a virtual world for themselves

Looking at the Indian population from the perspective of Internet usage,

• Urban population forms the relevant mass. As most of the content available over the Internet is           in English, familiarity with English acts as a major factor driving Internet usage.
• India being a home for 22 odd regional languages, Internet is largely limited to those familiar with English.
• This opens an opportunity for vernacular content to increase and thus tap the non English speaking literate people.

More and more people are now experiencing Internet.

• 70% of the people who know computer have used Internet in their life which is a very healthy sign for Internet in India.
• It shows that people are becoming aware of the Internet and are moving ahead to experience it.

People have started realizing that Internet can serve as a one stop point for all their needs. Be it

• Communication
• Entertainment,
• Shopping,
• Information search

Internet serves as a panacea for all their requirements. This has led 70% of the ever users to glue themselves to the Internet and access it on a regular basis.

Internet Penetrating to Non Metro Areas

People from non metro and small towns are increasingly experiencing their tryst with this new medium. This is evident from the fact that their contribution to Internet user base is increasing. As more users from, the non metros show their interest in becoming a part of the Internet Community the digital divide is poised to reduce in the years to come. This change is due to increasing computer literacy and awareness and good word of mouth of this medium.

Continious Growth of PC Owners and Internet Subscribers

The above information sums up the current state of Internet in India. With Internet growing at great pace. So where’s India internet heading? Here’s an overview

1. Single Platform: Internet will (rather is) become most powerful platform for marketing and communication. 
2. Brand Reach: More marketing efforts to establish brand and reach millions of customers, a paradigm shift from offline to online! 
3. Entertainment: India Film Industry (a.k.a – bollywood), will have a huge online presence!
4. Video: Video dedicated sites will increase as “broadband” increases in India. 
5. Cricket: Cricket takes over internet! ( it already is, is’nt it?). 
6. Localization: Local Search Engines and for enhanced results 
7. Regional Language sites: With over 22 official language, More regional content would be seen soon. 
8. Social Media: This will need a separate mention!, With youth driving the internet in india, conversation using social media platforms (social networking,blogs, wiki,podcast etc..) will grow and form a key “marketing” sector. 
9. Mobile Internet: India being one of the nation with “highest” mobile users, internet penetration is bound to increase and so will “mobile marketing” 
10. Digital Platforms: IPTV would be the next big thing ( still a long time to see this) but will be the next in internet revolution in India. 

Travel, Finance, Media, Retail, Automotive, Finance and Lead Generation. 

So the next posts will help one understand the current status of Web analytics in respect to these verticals. 

If you belong to any of those verticals and would like to input your views, feel free to reach out to me to help make the information as acurate as possible. 

What do you feel about internet growth and it’s relation to Web Analytics? am i missing something? feel free to add on via comments.

There’s a conversation going on on having a separte web analytics association for Europe. Just to give a background Web Analytics Association is been around for quite some time formed in 2003 by leading web anlaytics professionals to tackle standards, advocacy, education and events. 

The recent conversation over Eric Peterson’s blog to have a separate EUWAA raised lot’s of questions and some really intresting thoughts on how it can be beneficial and also the drawbacks of doing the same.

Excerpts from Eric’s Blog

A sister organization in Europe, one governed by a European Board of Directors and funded primarily by European vendors and consulting firms, would invariably be better able to serve the needs of specific markets at different stages of analytics maturity. The EuWAA could set country-specific pricing, have both regional and pan-European events, and make decisions that were carefully focused on the needs of different European constituencies 

I have not been a member of WAA, so my “thoughts would be as an indiviual”, ok now let’s speak in terms of India and for Web Analytics Developing nations. 

I totally agree with Eric on this, but how about countries like India where Web Analytics is starting to gain importance, i feel it’s “very important” for countries developing in Web analytics have access and are exposed to WAA and all it’s sister organization Why ? 

1.) Web analytics developing countries look to learn from US and EU counterparts!

2.) Both US and EU have their own culture and areas of importance!, one intresting aspect which is similar between EU countries and “India” is the number of languages ( 22 in India alone) so we have a lot to learn from them ? right?

Excerpts from Julien Coquet post on Web analytics in Europe, which probably applies to Indian scenario helps me prove the 2nd point. 

when it comes to measuring and analysing online behavior, there are linguistic and cultural aspects that must not be overlooked

3.) Helps us to understand the frequent pit falls these countries have seen during their “initial days in web analytics” 

4.) Help Understand which metrics require regional approaches, What were their experience with these? and so on.. 

Jim Sterne! also wrote about this and has some intresting views, there’s no doubt WAA board has been doing a excellent job and i can “guarantee” you Jim and WAA board that web analyts in India find WAA site ( without being a member) quite informative and good place to start and understand Web Analytics!

This is certainly not going to happen overnight, but i sincerly hope the WAA and EU counterpart keep these points in mind no matter what the decicison is made. 

so that’s a view from a non member? are you a member of WAA in india, pen down your thoughts and “please” correct me if i am wrong somwhere. 

In a recent press release Yahoo announced it’s agreement to acquire indextools analytics business.

Here’s the excerpt from the yahoo press release.

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Tensa Kft., more commonly known as IndexTools, a leading provider of Web analytics software for online marketing. The acquisition includes IndexTools’ Web analytics business and technology as well as its Tensa R&D Kft. subsidiary. Upon completion of the acquisition, the addition of the IndexTools’ assets is intended to expand Yahoo!’s powerful set of services designed to maximize its clients’ online marketing efforts.

“Yahoo! believes that the ability to generate the most valuable and relevant insights is essential to seizing market opportunities and creating successful campaigns,” said Bassel Ojjeh, senior vice president and head of Yahoo!’s Strategic Data Solutions group. “We expect that the IndexTools’ technology platform will provide our customers the opportunity to more quickly uncover and act on these insights, enhancing Yahoo!’s status as a partner of choice in online marketing and the must buy for the world’s advertisers.”

IndexTools offers a scalable analytics platform for companies’ online marketing activity in each phase of the customer lifecycle. With IndexTools Web Analytics and Bid Management, businesses gain accurate, insightful and timely intelligence about the effectiveness of their online marketing.

Congratulations to Yahoo and Dennis Mortensen over at Indextool.

With now three major players entering into full scale analytics is certainly great for the Web Analytics industry!. What are your views on this acquisition? pen down your thoughts!