Google pilot tests offline marketing at Ahmedabad

Exploring the offline marketing route in India, Google has pilot tested its small and medium business(SMB) roadshow in Ahmedabad. This is one of the first few initiatives undertaken by Google to look at creating awareness for its business solutions outside the Internet.

The search engine major has kickstarted its roadshow at Gujarat to cater to the fairly spread out SMB base in the state. It conducted a panel discussion in Ahmedabad on online advertising in India and it's benefits. Although it hasn't drawn a roadmap as to how many cities it will cover in the roadshow, the company's focus is to market its advertising products like AdSense, AdWords and Web Analytics. AdSense enables website publishers to display relevant Google ads on their content page. AdWords is designed for advertisers who want to create advertisements, choose keywords for audience and pay only when someone clicks on them, whereas Web Analytics enables website owners and marketers to record visitor behaviour.

"SMBs typically have a problem of resource constraints and through business solutions offered at Google, it will be easier and economical for them to connect to end-users at websites of their choice," said Krishnamurthi Josyula, manager, Google Business Solutions India.

He added that the company is also targeting educational institutes and real estate developers who are keen to advertise their programmes through AdWords.

Talking about present advertising spending in India, Josyula said that over $3 billion was being spent annually of which less than 2 per cent was for online. However, with an estimated 50 million user base predicted by 2009, he expected the number to grow significantly.