Local Search Market in India 2012

Local Search Market in India to grow at a healthy rate as internet penetration increases and local search increases their offerings and spread out in different platforms like mobile and offline.

The report begins with an introduction which explains the features of online and offline searches and how they have evolved with time. Further, the advantages of local searches are explained. It also gives a snapshot of global search market and the popular uses of search engine. Global market share for 2011-12 is also illustrated. In the market overview section the market size of local search in India is shown along with the growth rate. It also shows the percentage of successful local searches in India. Next the major offline search modes are described. In the next section the business model for both online and offline modes are explained.

In the next section drivers and challenges has been highlighted. Drivers include increase in phone based local searches. Proliferation of internet has also been instrumental in increasing the demand for local searches. Rise of mobile internet is yet another driver for the rise of phone based local searches. It has also been found that local search advertisements are more cost effective for small businessman. Also offline based local search in regional languages will further boost the market for the same. Challenges identified are search engines are acting as default sites for local search as well. Offline searches further face the barrier of ‘paperless environment' where corporate houses encourage less use of paper. Also a large section of population in India cannot use local search because they are not aware of the concept and also they are not conversant in English whereas bulk of the search results are in English only.

Trends identified include increase in PE/VC investments in local search engine sites. Also many local search sites are migrating to other platforms like mobile platform. Some other local search engines are providing other additional services in order to garner a greater market share. In order to increase their offerings some of the local search engines are entering into a JV with other players.

The competition section begins with complete traffic statistics of the major players. It includes ranks, audience snapshot, technical details and most viewed sub domains. The summary slide lists the major local search engine brands and their corresponding phone number and websites. The major players in the market have been profiled which includes a financial summary for each of the players. Key ratios and key contacts are also listed. The last section offers strategic recommendations for the players in the local search market.