The tech giant has invested in Glance, which serves news, movies, travel, sports, food, and games content on the lock screens of people’s smartphones, and VerSe Innovation, the parent company of content and news aggregator app Dailyhunt.

Glance secured $145m in investment from Google and existing investor Mithril Capital. The platform, which is part of the InMobi Group and owner of video-sharing platform Roposo, delivers AI-driven personalised content in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bahasa on Android lock screens, boasting 115m daily active users.

It says it will use the Google-led investment to deepen its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, expand its technology team, launch new services, strengthen its brand, and drive expansion into more markets.

“Glance is a great example of innovation solving for mobile-first and mobile-only consumption, serving content across many of India’s local languages,” said Caesar Sengupta, VP, Google. “Still too many Indians have trouble finding content to read or services they can use confidently, in their own language. And this significantly limits the value of the internet for them, particularly at a time like this when the internet is the lifeline of so many people. This investment underlines our strong belief in working with India’s innovative startups towards the shared goal of building a truly inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone.”

Google’s investment in VerSe is part of a round of over $100m, which valued the company at over $1bn. The round also included investment from Microsoft and AlphaWave, among others. The company’s Dailyhunt platform provides local language content in 14 Indian languages and it recently launched a short-video app called ‘Josh’.

The company will seek to use the capital injection to scale up its new app, expand its content offerings, and leverage AI.

The money invested in the startups by Google comes from the tech giant’s India Digitization Fund. The fund, launched earlier this year, includes a $10bn commitment by Google to India’s digital economy. This investment will take place over the next five to seven years and be done through a mixture of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments.  

The post Google invests in Indias Glance and Dailyhunt appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The ‘people cards’ provide the opportunity for influencers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, job hunters, self-employed individuals, or anybody else that wants to be easily discovered on Google to share their websites, social profiles, and other information in their own card.

“If you’re trying to find someone on Search, these new cards make it quick and easy to find the right person,” said Lauren Clark, Product Manager for Google Search, in a blog post. “When you search for someone’s name and there’s a card available, you’ll see a module with the name, profession and location, which you can tap to see their card. For people who share the same name, you’ll see multiple modules, and the information can help you distinguish between the different individuals to find who you’re looking for.”

In order to create a people card, people must have a Google account. They then have to search for their own name or ‘add me to Search’ and tap the prompt that appears. This opens a form where users can add a description about themselves, links to their website or social profiles, and, if choose to, a phone number, address, email address, and work and education details.

Only one people card is allowed per Google account and they all have to be authenticated via a phone number – and any cards that are believed to be fakes can be reported to Google. Users can also choose to delete their card whenever they feel.

People cards are rolling out today for people in India searching on mobile. Currently, the feature is only available in English.

The post Google debuts virtual visiting cards on Search appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The mobile plan, which is being introduced just days after the company revealed that it fell well short of global subscriber targets for Q2 2019, costs 199 rupees (£2.31/$2.88). Members on the plan will be able to watch all Netflix content in standard definition on one smartphone or tablet at a time. The plan joins the existing basic (499 rupees), standard (649 rupees), and premium (799 rupees) plans in the country.

The TV and movie streaming firm began testing its lower-priced option in Malaysia at the backend of 2018, before extending the trial to a small group of Indian users in March this year. During the trial, the plan was priced at 250 rupees.

“Our members in India watch more on their mobiles than members anywhere else in the world – and they love to download our shows and films,” said Ajay Arora, director of product innovation at Netflix.”We believe this new plan will make Netflix even more accessible and better suit people who like to watch on their smartphones and tablets – both on the go and at home.”

Though the lower-priced plan means Netflix is now offering its service at a price a lot closer to its competition in India, it is still more expensive than Amazon Prime’s 129 rupees a month, Zee Entertainment’s Zee5’s 99 rupees a month, and Balaji Telefilms’ 100 rupees for three months. The new tier does, however, bring Netflix on par with Hotstar’s starting price point of 199 rupees.

The post Netflix launches low-cost mobile plan in India appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the deal, but reports suggest that eBay is investing around $165m in the firm based in the Noida part of Uttar Pradesh state at a valuation of $3bn.

“We are deeply committed to India and believe there is huge growth potential and significant opportunity in this dynamic market,” said Jooman Park, eBay senior vice president, APAC. “This new relationship will accelerate our cross-border trade efforts in a rapidly growing market, providing hundreds of millions of Paytm and Paytm Mall customers with access to eBay’s unparalleled selection of goods.” 

The agreement will bring millions of products from eBay sellers around the world to the Paytm Mall shopping platform, which currently boasts over 450m registered customers, more than 130m active users, and over 12m registered merchants.

“Today’s Indian consumers have expanded their horizon and now like shopping for unique products from international platforms,” said Rudra Dalmia, executive director at Paytm Mall. “This new strategic collaboration will ensure Indian consumers are given greater access to eBay’s vast selection of inventory. We’re excited about this relationship with eBay as our cross-border partner and investor and believe together, we will provide buyers and sellers an unparalleled opportunity to discover, engage and transact on our platform.”

eBay is far from a new addition to the Indian market. The company made its first foray there in 2004, commencing its operations through Baazee.com. In April 2017, it was announced that eBay India would become part of the Flipkart Group, as part of a $1.4bn funding round which also included Tencent and Microsoft. eBay also invested $61m in Snapdeal back in 2013, though it wrote off the investment last year.

The post eBay buys Paytm Mall stake in latest bet on Indian eCommerce appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch – the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – has renewed calls for the apps to be banned in order to protect young people in India. It also believes that a ban would benefit the country’s national security and its startup ecosystem.

“While we have extensive regulation on foreign funding in media, these applications under the garb of social media platforms circumvent our domestic rules that exist to protect national security,” SJM’s All India Co-convener Ashwani Mahajan wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen by the Economic Times.

“To prevent such applications from operating in India, we would humbly request the creation of a new law that requires testing and also regulation to protect our national security as well as the privacy of Indian users from countries with inimical interests to India. Until such a law is notified, all such Chinese applications, including TikTok and Helo should be banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

TikTok was initially banned in April when they Indian government made it unavailable to download the app over concerns it encouraged pornography and made children vulnerable to sexual predators. The ban meant that existing users could continue to use the app but nobody new could download it via the App Store or Google Play.

Just weeks later, TikTok was made available to download again after a state court reversed its decision following an appeal from the app’s parent company Bytedance.

The post Calls renewed for TikTok to be banned in India again appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found that Google may have used its powerful position in the country to limit the ability of device manufacturers to utilise alternate versions of its Android mobile operating system. News of the probe first came to light in May.

The 14-page order from the CCI, which was reviewed by Reuters, says that Google “reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices operated on alternate versions of Android”.

The case bears similarities one faced by the tech giant in Europe. Here, the company was hit with a €4.3bn fine for using its position to impose restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators. In particular, it was accused of forcing device makers to set Google as their default search engine and pre-installing the Chrome browser, as well as preventing manufacturers from selling devices powered rival operating systems, and giving device makers and mobile operators financial incentives to ensure they provided Google Search as the only pre-installed option.

Google is also well aware of what it’s like to be slapped with a fine from the CCI. In February 2018, it received a fine of 1.36bn rupees (£15.3m at the time) for abusing its position in both online web search and online search advertising markets.

The post Google may have unfairly used its Android dominance in India appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) begun looking into the complaint last year and, last month, finally came to the conclusion that the accusations may have some weight. As a result, the CCI has ordered its investigation unit to launch a full probe.

The case is said to be similar to the one which saw Google slapped with a €4.34bn fine by the European Commission last year.

“It is a strong case for the CCI, given the EU precedent,” a source told Reuters, which first reported the news. “The CCI has (preliminarily) found Google abused its dominant position.”

In February 2018, the CCI fined Google 1.36bn rupees for abusing its market position within both online web search and online search advertising.

The post India opens Google antitrust probe over alleged Android abuse appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The ride-hailing firm, which will soon go public, promotes the service as being a way to lower pollution levels and help people avoid the notorious traffic levels in India’s metropolitan cities. And this promise fits into Yulu’s vision “to reduce traffic congestion by providing a scalable, affordable, efficient and clean solution for the first mile, last mile, and short distance commute”.

“Cities in India are seeing traffic get more clogged by the minute, and these micro-mobility options would go a long way in reducing traffic snarls, saving time for the riders, and reducing carbon emissions,” said Uber’s India team in a blog post. “Add to it the pleasant weather of Bengaluru, and traveling to and from the urban centers and metro stations just got a whole lot faster. Through this tie-up, Uber riders can now book e-bikes and bicycles in just a few taps.”

Yulu, which only launched early last year, was founded by the co-founder of mobile marketing and advertising platform provider InMobi, Amit Gupta. It currently serves Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, and Bhubaneswar. To date, the startup has raised $7m in funding from the likes of Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Freshworks co-founder Girish Mathrubootham, Blume Ventures, and 3One4 Capital.

The post Uber launches e-bike and bicycle trial in India appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded that TikTok no longer be made available to download from the Apple and Google app stores, following a ruling from the Madras High Court to ban the app, saying it encourages pornography and makes children vulnerable to sexual predators.

Bytedance argued that TikTok was just a platform where users upload videos and that the company should not be held liable for the actions of these users – and the court agreed. As such, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will ask Apple and Google to make the app available on their platforms again, once it has received the court’s order, according to Reuters.

“We are glad about this decision and we believe it is also greatly welcomed by our thriving community in India, who use TikTok as a platform to showcase their creativity,” A TikTok spokesperson told us in a statement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our users better. While we’re pleased that our efforts to fight against misuse of the platform have been recognised, the work is never ‘done’ on our end. We are committed to continuously enhancing our safety features as a testament to our ongoing commitment to our users in India.”

Controversy over its content isn’t new ground for TikTok. In February, the creators of Musical.ly, the app which merged with TikTok after being acquired in 2017, reached a $5.7m settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the alleged collection of children’s information without parental consent.

Earlier this month, a BBC investigation found that TikTok was failing to ban users who post sexually explicit comments, despite the app’s recent push to promote online safety and digital wellbeing.

*This article has been updated to include TikToks statement

The post TikToks India ban has been lifted appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The decision from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was made in response to a request from the Madras High Court to ban the app. The court determined that the app is encouraging pornography and makes children vulnerable to sexual predators.

The order does not affect the 120m monthly active users or the 240m total users who already have the TikTok app in India. It does, however, almost immediately kill off any further growth potential in a country which has become an important market for the app.

“We have faith in the Indian judicial system and we are optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by over 120 million monthly active users in India, who continue using TikTok to showcase their creativity and capture moments that matter in their everyday lives,” said a statement from TikTok.

This isn’t the first time that TikTok has been punished over content and child safety concerns. In February, the creators of Musical.ly, the app which merged with TikTok after being acquired in 2017, reached a $5.7m settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly collected children’s information without parental consent.

Earlier this month, a BBC investigation found that TikTok was failing to ban users who post sexually explicit comments, despite the app putting efforts into online safety and digital wellbeing.

The post TikTok downloads blocked in India appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.