Digital India with Google - Translating the vision of connected India

With over 300 million Internet users in the country and another 200 million Indians set to join by 2017*, the Internet is opening up huge opportunities for Indian businesses and entrepreneurs. India’s Small and Medium businesses (SMBs), especially technology startups are starting to bloom and investments have led to an explosion in India’s tech sector in recent years. At over 4,100 enterprises, India has the third-highest number of tech startups in the world, this number is expected to reach several thousand by 2020.

At Google, we believe that a connected India with access to the web will empower  Indians, help businesses grow, open new opportunities for education for the next generation and create growth for the Indian economy. We’re  focussed on getting the next billion people online and the majority of them will come from India. We want to make sure they have a great, reliable, and relevant experience when they get there.

As we continue to work towards this vision, we’re very excited to launch a dedicated destination (g.co/digitalindia), where we attempt to capture how this digital revolution is unfolding in India. With real stories of entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses, this destination showcases how they’re achieving their dreams, goals and aspirations, and how Google is enabling them in these achievements.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has launched the Digital India vision focussed on empowerment, development, growth and governance. With this destination, we want to showcase what that vision will translate into, by sharing the development and growth powered by SMBs, Indian Startups, entrepreneurs  and publishers.

We are excited that businesses all around India are using the technology we provide as an engine for their growth and we’re committed to helping them succeed with our tools and products. Just a few weeks ago, we announced an investment of $20,000 of cloud credits for 1000 startups in 2016 - 120 crores in a single year for startups. This is the single largest investment we’ve made anywhere in the world for Google Cloud Services. We want to help fuel the growth of companies and startups in India and one of the best ways we can do that is by empowering more businesses with the powerful tools Google provides for businesses.

India has over 51 million small and medium businesses, however, very few have an internet presence. When we first engaged SMBs in India, our mission was simple: help them get online. Since then we’ve invested in educating SMBs - to learn more about the web and the tools available to help their business be discovered and succeed online. Today, we’re helping small and medium businesses grow - expanding their customer bases across the country and also, across the region and going global. One such inspiring story of how Google is helping businesses succeed can be found here.

We have launched an initiative to build Internet presence for 20 Million SMBs in India - which can be accessed by anyone, anywhere on their mobile phones. Two million SMBs have already found a home on the Internet, through Google My Business.

When 20 million SMBs have such stories to share, we will have truly achieved our vision. We are committed to this vision and will continue to contribute in accelerating India’s pace to become the powerhouse of world class innovation, entrepreneurship and development.

* IAMAI iCube report

Posted by Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director, Sales & Operations, Google SEA & India

#IfIHadSpace? You asked for it, and you got it — YouTube Space Mumbai opens today

Musicians Aakash Gandhi and Ash King stumble upon a magical doorway to YouTube Space Mumbai

Lights, camera—action!

Back in August we announced that we would be partnering with renowned film school Whistling Woods International (WWI) to open YouTube Space Mumbai. We asked what you would do #IfIHadSpace and you responded overwhelmingly on social media: sci fi shorts, action films, and of course, many, many music videos. Now, we are finally ready to unveil the Space, opening the doors to India’s YouTube creators and nurturing the next wave of entertainment talent for Bollywood and beyond.

At the opening event today, we started the show with a bang with a musical number by YouTube creator, pianist and composer 88 Keys to Euphoria’s Aakash Gandhi, together with his collaborators Ash King and Shashaa Tirupati. Their latest video, Billie Jean | Jiya Re (Mashup Cover), which opened the event and was released today on YouTube, was shot entirely on campus and is the first official production of YouTube Space Mumbai.

YouTube’s new home for creators in Mumbai is a 1400 square foot space within WWI’s sprawling production complex, which includes a 400 square foot studio, a lounge and workshop space for creators to relax and socialize in, and an edit bay with two machines that are capable of 4K editing. There will also be a small office for our staff on campus, to interact not only with YouTube creators, but with the students at Whistling Woods. In addition, YouTube creators will have access to Whistling Woods’ sound stages and post-production facilities, including two fully-equipped professional studios over 3000 square feet each.

The creators’ lounge at YouTube Space Mumbai

The doors are about to open...

Opening ceremony of the YouTube Space with Subhash Ghai (center), founder and Chairman of WWI

At the YouTube Space, creators can also learn from industry experts and attend workshops to hone their YouTube know-how and production skills. Starting this month, the Space will host networking events for industry and education partners, as well as a regular schedule of workshops for creators. From a “Business Bootcamp” to classes on Adobe tools, these class will give creators the skills they need to operate and succeed as business entrepreneurs in digital media.

Creators will be able to book use of the YouTube Space through an online tool after they have taken an initial orientation class called “Unlock the Space.” The first Unlock the Space orientation will take place this coming Saturday, 5 December, 2015. Information and sign up for upcoming events and workshops will be on the YouTube Space website at www.youtube.com/space. Stay informed about the latest goings on at YouTube Space Mumbai by following us on Twitter @youtubespacemum, or sign up for our newsletter at https://goo.gl/86M6fW.

Posted by David Macdonald, Head of YouTube Spaces, Asia Pacific, who recently watched TVF’s Rajasthani Cowboys.

Find your way. Even when the internet can’t find you. Google Maps is now available offline in India

You just landed at Delhi airport and need to get to your next appointment fast, but you don’t know where you’re going, your connection is spotty, and the directions are taking way too long to load. Gah!   

Travelling doesn’t need to be this stressful. From today, Google Maps can help you find directions and get where you’re going, even when you don’t have an Internet connection with the launch of new offline functions in Google Maps.

You can now download the map of an area to your phone, and the next time you find there’s no connectivity—whether you’re on a holiday in Goa or looking up for your next destination from an underground parking —Google Maps will continue to work. Once you have saved that area for offline access, you can get turn-by-turn driving directions, search for specific destinations, and find useful information about places, even when you don’t have an internet connection.

Before you head off, download maps of Delhi in Google Maps by searching for “Delhi”, and then tapping "Download". You can also go to "Offline Areas" in the Google Maps menu and tap the “+” button. Once you’ve downloaded your map, Google Maps will still work even when you’re somewhere with spotty service or no connectivity at all. When a connection is found, it will switch back online so you can easily access the full version of Maps, including live traffic conditions for your current route. Google Maps will only download areas to your device when you are on a Wi-Fi connection.

We first previewed these new capabilities during Google I/O in May, and starting rolling out these features globally last week. Today we’re gradually rolling out the first set of these improvements with the latest version of Google Maps on Android (coming soon to iOS) in India. Over time, we’ll be introducing even more offline features to help you find your way—even when you can’t find a connection.

Posted by Sanket Gupta, Program Manager, Google Maps

Google invests in Indian businesses

India’s economy is like a rocketship. Not only are established companies continuing to stay competitive in an increasingly globalized market, but India is home to the fastest-growing base of startups worldwide.

We would like to fuel the rocketship further with the powerful tools that Google for Work provides. So today we are announcing two offers, one for Google Apps and one for Google Cloud Platform.

First up, we will now cover the fees of Google Apps for any business locked into an enterprise agreement (EA) with another provider until its contract runs out. We'll even chip in on some of the deployment costs to set companies up for success with one of our Google for Work Partners. Once the current EA is up, we will then offer a simple contract with no traps or gotchas. For most businesses, this may end up being cheaper than the previous contract. Our estimates suggest that businesses with basic EAs and no dependencies may  potentially unlock savings of up to 70% by switching to Google Apps for Work.

Next up comes Cloud, targeted at India’s startup community. With the second largest developer population in the world, we believe India will be home to the next generation of global software firms. We want more Indian startups to be able to build, deploy and scale what’s next on Google Cloud Platform. So in 2016, we will provide 1,000 Indian startups with up to $20,000 each in free credits for Google Cloud services. Many startups are held back by a lack of computing power, but with the scale and speed of Google infrastructure, the sky’s the limit.  

We are proud to be a part of a tremendous Indian business community as a trusted provider of affordable, collaborative and easy to use productivity and cloud computing tools for our customers. We already power the IT and cloud computing of a range of Indian enterprises from well-known companies like Hero Motocorp, Bombay Dyeing and JSW  in addition to the majority of top startups in India including Snapdeal, Oyo Rooms and Freshdesk. We are excited to work with our current and soon-to-be customers to continue building the future of work in India. With Freedom from Enterprise Agreements and Cloud Platform credits for start ups, we hope to see Indian businesses continue to rise.

Posted by Amit Singh, President, Google for Work

9 year old doodles his dream to make “Plastic to Earth Machine” for a greener planet

9 year old wins votes and hearts to become National Winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest

One month and participation from over 50 cities in India, the anticipation has been building around this year’s Doodle 4 Google competition. Today, the wait is finally over. Nine year-old P Karthik from Visakhapatnam is the national winner with his imaginative, thoughtful and inspiring doodle, entitled “Plastic to Earth Machine.” Karthik’s doodle will be featured on the Google India homepage on November 14th to celebrate Children’s Day.

3rd grader, P Karthik from Visakhapatnam, the National Winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google Contest

P Karthik, who attends Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam, submitted his Doodle around this year’s theme, ‘If I could create something for India, I would’. His creativity and vision towards developing a ‘green environment’ is well reflected through his colorful doodle where he has created ‘Plastic to Earth Machine’ that can recycle and convert all the plastic waste from the country into a material which helps the growth of mother nature.  

All the entries were evaluated on the criteria of artistic merit, creativity and theme communication as well as their unique and novel approach to the Doodle.

This year’s jury, political cartoonist Ajit Ninan and popular creative artist Rob along with the Google Doodle team had a mammoth task at hand; first, to shortlist from the submissions received, and then to choose the national winner and regional winners from across the nation, with each piece of art as competitive and as compelling as the other. The final 12 doodles, chosen by them, were exhibited for online voting and today we are extremely glad to share the final outcomes and reveal the winning Doodle.

We are overwhelmed to see great participation from  talented and creative young artists year-on-year since 2009. With Doodle4Google competition, we aim to celebrate and promote creativity, passion, and imagination in our younger users. The designs for this year’s theme “If I could create something for India, I would” were incredibly creative across all grade groups.

In addition to selecting P Karthik as the national winner, close to 200 thousand public votes helped us determine the three group winners:

• Grades 1-3: P Karthik, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam for his doodle ‘Plastic to Earth Machine’
• Grades 4-6:  P Ramya, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan,  Visakhapatnam for her doodle titled ‘Green City, Dream City’.
• Grades 7-10:  Ashita Sharma, Mother Mary's School, New Delhi for her doodle titled ‘Robots - to transform India’

A big round of thanks from the Doodle 4 Google team and the jury to all of you who voted and helped us select this year's winners. More importantly, we thank all the students who submitted their wonderful entries this year and our partner schools & guest judges - it was incredibly challenging to select the winning doodles from among the amazing entries this year. Please join us in congratulating all participants—they did a fantastic job of inspiring us with their creativity. Keep on doodling and we’ll see you next year once again with an interesting new theme!

Posted by Sapna Chadha, Head of Marketing, Google India

Bidding Adieu to Great Online Shopping Festival #mygosfmoment

In 2012, we launched Great Online Shopping Festival as the Cyber Monday of India to encourage more Indians to shop online by offering them the best of deals across portals. Our objective was to bring all the leading ecommerce players on a common platform and boost the online shopping industry by focusing on first time buyers. We had never done anything like this before in any country.

Back then India had 130 million Internet users with only 8 million Indians shopping online, and the total online shopping Industry was approximately $2 billion. Fast forward to 2015, India has over 350 million Internet users and over 50 million online shoppers projected to reach 100 million by 2016 and the Industry is already over $10 Billion.

In addition to helping large eCommerce players get massive transactions, GOSF served as a great platform for hundreds of small and medium businesses to find customers across India. Many small and medium eCommerce portals used GOSF as a launch platform and saw phenomenal growth in sales and some of them today are well established online shopping destinations.

December became the new peak online sales season overtaking Diwali

Today, India has many flourishing and successful eCommerce companies and there are multiple deal days being hosted by various e-Commerce players delivering great value to shoppers across India. Users don’t have to wait for 12 months to get the best deals online, small and medium businesses no longer have to wait for www.gosf.in to find customers from all across India. Success of new categories introduced in GOSF like Real Estate and Auto have today become a norm, and both industries have embraced Internet to sell directly customers.

The pace of growth and the impact eCommerce companies are driving in India has gained significant momentum and we are very pleased that we were able to play our part in this journey in India. GOSF in many ways was a catalyst in boosting consumer confidence to shop online and we are grateful to all our partners and buyers who contributed in making GOSF, the largest online shopping festival not just in terms of scale but also in impact.

There were many learnings for us and the Industry on the whole but the time has come for us to bid adieu to the Great Online Shopping Festival. We will continue to invest in initiatives to empower small and medium businesses and work along with the Industry to make Internet a growth engine for the country.

Posted by Nitin Bawankule, Industry Director - eCommerce, Local & Classified, Google India

Meet the 12 Doodle 4 Google 2015 finalists from India and vote to choose the winners!

Entries now open for online voting for users to choose the winner

We’re very excited that the annual Doodle4Google (D4G) competition with the theme ‘If I could create something for India, it would be’’ has reached its final stages. And we are glad to announce our 12 Finalists.

Like all previous years, this year the competition has also seen amazing response and entries have come in from across the country! As always, this year’s D4G participants are grouped into three categories: Group 1 comprising students from Class 1 to 3; Group 2 with students from Class 4 to 6; and Group 3 with students from Class 7 to 10.

These entries went through two rounds of judging, first by a group of Art Schools, and then by our national jury of Cartoonist Ajit Ninan and Creative Artist Rob. Details of the finalists along with their doodles are showcased at www.google.co.in/doodle4google

You get to now vote for your favorites online to choose one winner from each group. Online voting to pick the final winner has been ongoing from October 23 and will close on November 9. Finally, on the basis of your votes and on the basis of the ranking by the reputed national jury, the national winner will be selected from all the finalists. The winning doodle will be placed on the google.co.in homepage on November 14, National Children’s Day.

Here is the list of the 12 finalists from across India:

Group 1: class 1 to 3

1.     Ishita Jain, St. Mary's Convent Sr. Sec. School, Bhopal

2.     Ashish Dharne, Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, Bengaluru

3.     P Karthik, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam

4.     Aarushi Jain, G.D. Goenka International School, Surat

Group 2: class 4 to 6

1.     Saubhagya Kalia, Sri Aurobindo School, Chandigarh

2.     Bhumika Shree, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Godda

3.     P Ramya,  Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam

4.     Saloni Singh, UK Convent School, Bhopal

Group 3: class 7 to 10

1.     Varsha Yeshwanth, The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Chennai

2.     Ashita Sharma, Mother Mary's School, New Delhi

3.     Samhita Lokesh, Freedom International School, Bengaluru

4.     Sumedh H Supe, Delhi Public School, Udaipur

About the History of the Doodle:

Over the years, doodles on the Google homepage have made search on Google more fun and enjoyable for its users worldwide. When doodles were first created, nobody had anticipated how popular and integral they would become to the Google search experience. Nowadays, many users excitedly anticipate the release of each new doodle and some even collect them!

Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.

Posted by Sapna Chadha, Director of Marketing, Google India