The digital advertising market in India is expected to reach Rs 2,500 crore by the end of this year, from the Rs 1,500 crore market last year, according to Rajan Anandan, managing director of Google India.
“With growing awareness on digital presence among companies including small and medium businesses (SMBs), the sector is expected to grow at a faster rate,” he said addressing the media on the sidelines of ISB Digital Summit 2012, which was held on Friday.
Google has launched a ‘SME partner programme’ this year to address the growing demand for digital advertising among the SMBs in the country.
The search engine giant is targeting to reach 500,000 SMBs by 2014 under its ‘India Get Your Business Online’ initiative, which was launched last year.
“We have already covered 150,000 SMBs across the country through this initiative which provides an Online presence for these companies at a free cost,” he said.
Replying to a query on current challenges India is facing, Anandan said, “India is the third largest internet consumer market globally, with 137 internet users, still the internet penetration level is low. We need higher bandwidth at a more affordable price and affordable connecting devices such as tablets and smart phones in order to address the penetration challenge.”
The two-day ISB Digital Summit will focus and discuss on the current trends in digital media, recent innovations, new business models and find effective ways of leveraging the digital medium for both large and mid-size companies across verticals.
