The number of regional language internet users in India has grown rapidly to 47 percent annually and has reached 127 million in the month of June 2015 due to the increase in the use of smartphones in the rural regions of the nation. This was revealed by a new report by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) and IMRB International, the market research firm.
This report states that India has an internet user base of 353 million till June 2015. Of this number, 269 million users access the internet once in a month. The survey was conducted amongst this segment of the internet users.
The country has a huge scope for the local language internet users as the non-English speaking population accounts to 88 percent of the population. A minimum of 50 percent of the populace speak Hindi, reveals the report. The rural population uses Internet for the entertainment purpose mostly, and then for communication and social networking. The urban population makes use of the internet for communication followed by social networking and entertainment.
The increasing number of other language users accessing the internet has resulted in the online marketplaces listing their product features and other details in the regional languages including Hindi and Tamil.
Furthermore, the report cites the challenges that exist in the market. Mostly, the applications provide only limited content in the local languages. The report calls for intelligent translations in the place of mechanical processes that are used on most of the websites. For instance, a website that sells 16 MP camera translates the MP to Hindi as Saansad meaning Member of Parliament.
The report compares the medium with the television stating that it has an average of four ads out of five in the regional languages without the mode of the channel in concern. Also, the channels such as YouTube and other broadcasting websites are creating and distributing ads in the regional languages.
The overall spends on digital advertising in India is expected to reach Rs 3,575 crore by the end of this year, and of this, 5 percent is the portion of the local language digital ads specs totaling to Rs 179 crore. The rise in the local language digital content is expected to go up to 30 percent of the overall spends by 2020.
