AOL takes a giant step towards its expansion goal with the launch of a local language version of its web search portal in India. Coming into the Indian web market are a slew of AOL web services spearheaded by AOL’s video search portal Truveo. Truveo is launching its international editions in eight major countries today as well.
Ron Grant, President and COO of AOL believes that India is an important market for AOL and the launch of the AOL India portal highlights the company’s commitment to serving online consumers with a robust portal an video search tools. “These are also important steps in our ongoing efforts to make AOL a truly global company, we started this year with three international portals in Europe, and we will end 2008 with a presence in 30 countries around the world,” says Grant.
India’s online audience is continuously growing with internet users in urban India increasing by 28% in the past year. Sixty percent of these active Indian internet users prefer to read web content in their local Indian languages. Hence, AOL’s India portal which will be available in Hindi and Tamil will enhance the web experience of the Indian online community.
Two announcements regarding global expansion plus a previous announcement on its mobile portal enhancement, looks like AOL is on a rampage to leverage its current standing in the global search market. Whatever happened to Ask.com by the way?
