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View Full Version : Most conclusive evidence to date about language preference in India!!


drbiohealth
28th May 2007, 06:35 PM
Mystery unfolding for the blind.

Well, here is a six-month old local company which appears to have the potential to seriously compete with Google in Indian market. The difference between the two companies is blatantly clear. Guruji is local while Google is global. While Guruji.com allows users to input search keywords in their local scripts (an extremely clever strategy I believe as of today - they seem to understand the peoples' nerve) Google still has to come to terms on this. Virtual input methods such as this empower people to use their own language scripts. Usage wise also this method appears not too burdensome as people usually type short strings for search so they don't have to click for too long on the virtual keyboard.

And now, the initial search trends from the horse's mouth:


Speaking to Business Line, ahead of the official launch on Tuesday, the founders Mr Anurag Dod and Mr Gaurav Mishra said that offering vernacular search is key to expanding the Internet user base in the country. “The future is in regional languages. That’s why we are releasing one language capability after the other, in quick succession,” said Mr Mishra.

Guruji.com is planning to capitalise on the wide reach of Tamil-speaking diaspora. Around 200 million people speak Tamil in India, and an equal number, in the rest of the world. “We see a huge surge in the southern region, which makes it our focal point,” said Mr Mishra.

Mr Dod said that the response to native language search has been “tremendous and encouraging. We have logged in more than 10 million hits.”

Guruji.com is backed by Sequoia Capital, which also funded Google, the world’s most popular search engine, years ago.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200705231821.htm
http://www.domain-b.com/infotech/itnews/2007/20070524_stump.html


This is the most conclusive evidence to date that clearly indicates what language Indians want to use on the net given a "choice" of input methods. Untill now the "choice" factor was missing which ultimately will have to resolve.