web 2.0

Indian portals are trailing behind in popularity in a recently released JuxtConsult survey (one of the very few surveys conducted to study Indian surfers). Insiders feel that foreign players have an edge as they have the resources and mature marketplaces to test their search engines and mail systems before coming to India. “Global companies like Yahoo amortised entire cost over a huge user base.Though Rediff claims to have emerged right on the top of Indian customer’s preference list for email in a com- Score Media Metrix survey, one cannot brush away the market perception that Indian portals have failed to match the growing influence of Yahoo and Google. In fact, Rediff Mail has lost some of its client base both to Gmail and Yahoo, according to JuxtConsult.Despite an impressive array of numbers from Rediff and others, internet pundits insist that they have to be quick on their feet to match up to global bigwigs. Consider Google’s social networking site Orkut and Rediff’s Connexion, for instance. Though Rediff launched Connexion three years ago it’s still a long way to go before Indians really start using it as a place of social meetings compared to Orkut which arrived a year back in India and is just rocking.