Rediff Vs Indiatimes Vs Web18 : Indian Internet War

We have seen several internet wars in the past:

1. Netscape Vs Internet Explorer

2. MSN Vs Yahoo Vs Google

3. Facebook Vs My Space

4. Google Vs Bing

5. Facebook Vs Google [Which still continues]

But they all were in USA and we have never seen this to happen in India till now.

Today when i saw an advertisement in Times Of India showing Indiatimes getting more unique visitors than Rediff and Web18, smell like a new war will start soon. Actually this all happens because of report of Comscore showing Indiatimes over Rediff and Web18 in unique visitors and Web18 over Indiatimes and Rediff in terms of traffic.

Lets see on what front can they fight and who will emerge winner:

1. NEWS: News the most important service given by them. Indiatimes has an advantage that they have the leading newspaper Times Of India, Economic Times and Financial Times so people will prefer reading its online news. Web18 has leading news network woth CNBC and IBN so they may also lead over Rediff. With Rediff we have the advantage that its famous in US so they will be prefered in US which contributes most of the advertising revenues. My rank Indiatimes>>Web18>>Rediff.

2. Mail: Rediff is quite famous and their Rediffmail NG has proved to be one of the best mail service on Mobile at Rs 50. In.com Mail is also good enough and people will like it after they use but it needs to gain market. In.com Mail has done quite an advertising so may be we see it growing. Indiatimes Mail is below standard and even they pay no attention to it. My rank Rediff>>Web18>>Indiatimes.

3. Search: Rediff is light so a preferred home page of many and will go under a seach deal. While other two: Web18 and Indiatimes, have a partnership with google. My rank Rediff>>Web18>>Indiatimes.

4. Social: Rediff has “My Page” which needs revamp. Inditimes has Itimes which has integrated mail service but lacks chat. Web18 has no presence in this area. My rank Indiatimes>>Rediff>>Web18.

According to me its going to be tough fight among them and Rediff seems to be emerging as a winner.

My Rank:

1. Rediff (which may be Google of India)

2. Indiatimes (which may be MSN of India)

3. Web18 (Which may be Yahoo of India)

United States VS Indian Internet Companies

I thought of comparing the US internet companies with Indian internet companies. There is no comparison between them as US companies earn lots more and are more innovative where as Indian companies are lazy and less innovative. The comparison is done by selecting a US internet company and comparing it with the Indian internet company having similar traits.

1. MSN VS SIFY: Both company consider they internet business as secondary and most of the revenue comes from other business. Still MSN takes lots of effort in making internet business profitable with its product like Windows Live, Hotmail and Bing. Where as Sify has a deal with google for Mail and Search, hence focus only on news. Since there are better news sites so Sify will not survive long where as Microsoft's MSN will emerge as one of the leader in Internet industry and profit making business with its aggressive product line up.

2. YAHOO VS INDIATIMES: Both of them are more of a portal with news, local content and services, Indiatimes runs on its news content and Yahoo has popular mail service. Both are a brand and has a high reach to the consumer. Yahoo is searching for a partner that brings some more value to the site so that they can enter and dominate in different areas of online services. Whereas Indiatimes is happy with there business are in no mood to do experiment that might make them less innovative and may lose the market share.

3. GOOGLE VS REDIFF: Both were the startups. Google started when internet was penetrating US and Rediff when internet started its penetration in India. Google turn out to be the biggest global internet company where as Rediff became popular in India but from last four years losing its market. Rediff lost its market share not only because Google's Gmail and Orkut were gaining popularity but also Rediff kept on sleeping and did not brought innovation at the right time. Rediff was lazy and did not brought Chat within Inbox and a social network. If Rediff has done that they must have beaten Google.

4. AOL VS IN: Both the companies work as the subsidy. Both have a good mail service which may turn out there strongest point. IN has one of the best news network where as AOL has bought many startups like tech blog TechCrunch. IN has the potential to be one of the global internet company if it continue to put innovations.

5. FACEBOOK VS IBIBO: There are several social network but lets compare the US company Facebook which is global number one (and also number one in India) and Indian (JV of China and Brazil) Ibibo which is most popular Indian social networking site in India. Both of them give several apps and has chat features. Ibibo has integrates mail, so Facebook has better seach technology to connect the people to friends, brands and adds. Facebook is more innovative and owner is 25 years old so you can understand the aggressive nature of this site. Facebook has given Google and Yahoo a run for their money and market. Whereas Ibibo has not made such a big impact. Facebook connect and integration is used by several sites including Yahoo and Windows Live and even Ibibo whereas Ibibo so not have any such integrations and popularity.