Chennai: Nearly 40 million Internet users on an average are added every year in India, which already has 350 million connected smartphone users, Google has come out saying.
A new report from the Internet giant titled ‘Year in Search: Insights for Brands’ report says, with 400 million active Internet users Internet is getting embraced across India as consumers in non-metros use online services to search for information regarding insurance, beauty and travel, more than metros.
Small towns rule
Over 70 per cent of all smartphones-related searches come from small towns, states the report, adding that 61 per cent of all searches across BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) and 55 per cent across auto are coming from non-metros with interest in destination discovery and international travel also much higher in these areas than tier-I cities.
The online video audience in India is expected to grow to 500 million by 2020, according to the report and watch time for science videos as well as hobby-related videos in India have more than tripled in 2018.
Online videos are shaping the way people make purchases, with 80 per cent of car buyers are using it as a research destination and more than 55 per cent of shoppers say that they used online video while actually shopping in store.
YouTube has also become the new beauty advisor, as watch time for Beauty Tips videos in India has doubled year-on-year (y-o-y) in 2018 and searches related to beauty have grown by 40 per cent last year, Google said.
Going regional
Regional language support is enabling millions of women across India to look for beauty tips. Consumers are increasingly researching product ingredients to develop do-it-yourself (DIY) solutions for personal care, it said.
The rise of the non-English user is reflected in the fact that the country has seen 270 per cent growth y-o-y in voice searches and consumers are fast using this tool for seeking information and discovering content.
The report says that Indian language Internet users are expected to account for nearly 75 per cent of India’s Internet user base by 2021, and Google search trends show a significant move in this direction.
Hindi is also gaining traction in the technology sector with Hindi queries related to laptops and PCs having doubled. Queries in categories like clothing, beauty and personal care are growing faster in Hindi than in English, with 178 per cent growth in Hindi searches for clothing versus 33 per cent in English.
Retail digital payments continue to grow with 23 per cent growth in credit and debit card transactions at point of sale, the report said.
| Expert speak |
| “The online space in India has never been more vibrant. India has become the fastest Internet consuming country in the world and the Internet has now become the bridge to Bharat’s aspirations. The growing influence of online video, increase in usage of language and voice, along with a rise of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are opportunities for brands and marketers. This enables brands to create relevant experiences to engage and retain customers on a platform that they spend considerable time on,” says country director, Google India, Vikas Agnihotri. |
| Searching for… |
| *According to the report, searches on co-working spaces saw 100 per cent growth (in real estate searches).* Dating searches are catching up with matrimony queries with a 40 per cent increase. There was a 37 per cent increase in online dating brand queries versus 13 per cent increase in interest for matrimony brands.
* The total volume of matrimony searches continues to remain high, almost three times the number of queries around dating. |