Yahoo is the most recalled online brand but Google is the most used
Internet usage in India continues to grow at a slow but steady pace, both in ‘spread’ and ‘depth’. If there are no visible signs of any sweeping or far-reaching growth on the horizon yet, there are no indications of any slowdown either.
The overall internet population in urban India has grown by a healthy 28% between April 2006 and April 2007 to reach 30.32 million now.
Of the total 30.32 million urban internet users, 25.17 million (83%) are the ‘regular’ users who log on at least once a month and the balance 5.15 million (17%) are the ‘occasional’ users who use the internet with a lesser frequency than that. From a practical point of view, 20 million internet users are on the net daily
Yahoo once again emerges as the most top of mind recalled online brand of all with 30% of all online Indians recalling it as the first online brand coming to their minds. However, when it comes to actual usage it is Google which emerges the frontrunner with 29% of all internet users preferring to use Google the most among all websites.
However, at the overall level it is neither Yahoo nor Google but Orkut which shows the best recall-to-usage conversion ratio of 1.76.
Table 1: Overall Popularity of Websites (Top 10)
| Rank |
Website |
Top of Mind Recall(2007) |
Top of mind Recall(2006) |
Website Usage(2007) |
Usage/Recall Ratio (2007) |
| 1 |
Yahoo |
29.80 |
35% |
26.60% |
0.89 |
| 2 |
Google |
27.20% |
21% |
29.30% |
1.08 |
| 3 |
Rediff |
11.50% |
15% |
10.90% |
0.95 |
| 4 |
Orkut |
4.50% |
1% |
7.90% |
1.76 |
| 5 |
Gmail |
2.90% |
- |
3.90% |
1.34 |
| 6 |
Hotmail |
1.60% |
5% |
1.50% |
0.94 |
| 7 |
Indiatimes |
1.00% |
5% |
0.90% |
0.90 |
| 8 |
Contest2win |
0.60% |
- |
0.30% |
0.50 |
| 9 |
MSN |
0.50% |
4% |
0.40% |
0.80 |
| 10 |
Nakuri |
0.50% |
1% |
0.50% |
1.00 |
In terms of specific online activities, both Yahoo and Google emerge as the most popularly used websites for 14 of the 23 popular online activities surveyed (7 each).
| Online Activity |
Top Website |
%Prefer to Use |
YoY Increase |
| Emailing |
Yahoo |
53% |
16% |
| Instant Messaging |
Yahoo |
63% |
- |
| Info Search - English |
Google |
75% |
-2% |
| Info Search - Languages |
Google |
74% |
- |
| Job Search |
Nakuri |
37% |
-13% |
| Online Travel |
Makemytrip |
17% |
7% |
| Yatra |
16% |
16% |
| Online Shopping |
Ebay |
34% |
-4% |
| Online News |
Yahoo |
14% |
4% |
| NDTV |
12% |
-1% |
| Financial News & Info |
Google |
13% |
1% |
| Moneycontrol |
13% |
3% |
| Online Share Trading |
ICICI Direct |
36% |
- |
| Real Estate Info |
Google |
17% |
- |
| Magicbricks |
14% |
- |
| Matrimonial Search |
Bharatmatrimony |
29% |
-4% |
| Shaadi |
28% |
-5% |
| Dating/Friendship |
Orkut |
36% |
32% |
| Social Networking |
Orkut |
64% |
- |
| Online Games |
Yahoo |
18% |
-13% |
| Zapak |
17% |
17% |
| Mobile Content |
Yahoo |
14% |
-8% |
| Rediff |
12% |
-10% |
| Online Music |
Raaga |
22% |
5% |
| Sports Content |
Espnstar |
29% |
5% |
| Cinema Content |
Yahoo |
11% |
-2% |
| Astrology |
Yahoo |
22% |
-2% |
| Online Education |
Google |
34% |
- |
| Local Language Content |
Google |
12% |
- |
| Blog Site |
Google |
21% |
- |
Yatra, Orkut, Magicbricks and Zapak are the biggest success stories this year, gaining significant popularity in usage on preferred basis. The 4 websites have not only become popular but have almost reached no. 1 or no. 2 positions in their respective activity categories.
Yatra has gained 17% usage over last year to have become one of the most popular travel websites along with Makemytrip.com which retains its top slot. Magicbricks in the real estate space and ICICI Direct in the online trading space have been the biggest gainers as well. Zapak has also done well for itself in the online gaming vertical with 17% user preference.
Orkut’s infiltration in the Indian online space continues. The Google owned community has gained market lead with 64% usage preference in the social networking category and has 36% usage preference as a dating/friendship site.
Shaadi and Bharatmatrimony continue to fight it out in the online matrimonial space but both have lost preferred usage share compared to last year’s findings.
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