AOL India sharpens focus on digital ads

AOL is getting serious about making its presence felt in the Indian digital advertisement market. It plans to strengthen the offerings of its digital platform, Adtech, which it launched a few months back.

Kit Desai, strategic commercial director-EMEA and Asia, AOL, feels the Indian market is performance-oriented but unfortunately few understand the advantages of digital advertisement. "I think the Indian digital market is Google-centric. One needs to invest in this market to make it grow. We are developing technology that would suit the local market," says Desai.

Adtech already has signed a few clients, though Desai did not divulge any names. The company is also planning to tie up with leading publishers in India like Indiatimes.com, Hindustan Times and Tyroo.

Adtech is serving customers in 25 countries and has close to 850 clients globally. In India, however, the parent company AOL is yet to make an impact.

"We will invest significantly in the market both in terms of educating the market as well as gearing up our presence. We have plans to increase the headcount. The other two focus areas are strengthening partnerships and increasing the distribution bandwidth. And taking the Adtech brand forward," adds Desai.

The entry into the Indian market is part of its strategy to grow its Asia presence. Adtech is also planning to expand in China, Hong Kong and the UAE.

Industry experts, however, feel Adtech will face a formidable challenge from entrenched players like Google and Yahoo.

"I don't think Adtech's entry into the Indian market makes much of a difference. There are already a handful of networks present," says an executive of a leading ad network firm. Google, with Doubleclick and Adsense in addition to Admob -- a leading player in mobile advertisement space which it recently acquired -- is a formidable player.

Adtech provides an integrated ad server solution, enabling businesses to streamline operational workflow and optimise inventory monetisation for their digital marketing initiatives.

AOL is banking on the growth in digital advertisements which have seen a rise as the economy limps back to normalcy. Internet advertisement, according to a recent Ficci report, touched Rs 620 crore (Rs 6.2 billion) in 2008 and grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 45.2 per cent for the period 2006-08. This segment is expected to clock Rs 840 crore (Rs 8.4 billion) by 2009 and be a Rs 2,140 crore (Rs 21.4 billion) market by 2013.