Pankaj Jain, President & COO, Webdunia

"We Have To Think About The Users Of Tomorrow"

Webdunia.com represents a stream of internet content that diverts away from the predominant English-speaking Web. Conceptualised as an Indian portal to its very roots, the site has grown to an unbeaten nine versions in local Indian languages from Tamil to Bengali. Over seven years old, the company is now exploring other platforms such as mobiles as it forges ahead. Tarana Khan and Richa Vij spoke to Pankaj Jain about the future of language websites in India and the challenges they face

Q. How was the idea of Webdunia conceptualised, that too at an early stage of the internet, when English was predominant online?

A. In 1997-98, we thought that we needed to reach to the masses and if we wanted to do something for the Indian public, then we needed to do something in languages. So, the concept was not creating a commercial property...rather, it was doing something that we could to help the Indians and teach them the power of computers.

The only issue was that appropriate technology was not available at the time for Indian languages. There was no standard for the fonts and people were developing their own technologies.

Since we are a technology and media company, including Webdunia and the newspaper NaiDunia, we pulled out a team from the software and content business and created a product called e-patra to begin with. And the first and foremost thing was that we should allow users and even our team to input the content, if we wanted to publish something. So the first product that was developed was the input mechanism and after that e-patra was launched in 1999. Webdunia came into the picture in early 2000. It began with Hindi and then we added Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu and the whole concept is to reach the masses and ensuring that English is not a barrier for them to get on the Internet.

Q. What were the challenges which you faced, that are unique to Webdunia as a language portal?

A. I think in the early stages, first of all, the Internet was new and those who could afford it were the English-speaking users. So it was a very early start for us. Reaching the public and telling them about something called Webdunia.com which exists in local languages was very tough. Even the people who came to know about us were more comfortable with English. So it was challenging not to get demotivated by the initial response! But we knew that in the long run it would give good results if we reach the right people. And that drive is on as the Internet is becoming more and more popular, and its reach is becoming easy.

People who are not very comfortable with English are also exploring the Internet now so they are the target users for us and the challenge is to make it easy for people to use computers. We need to ensure that Webdunia becomes one of the portals they are comfortable on. So when they come on the Net for the first time and they find the language property, they will be very comfortable and then they can explore different things. We are also trying to put up features that are easy to navigate, easy to use and not very complicated.

Q. What kind of interface are users at Webdunia using to write in their own languages?

A. We are providing Webdunia users with an interface where users can use our controls and input text in the phonetic way and through different scripts - whatever the user is comfortable with. So Webdunia has now developed an engine where as you start typing, it suggests text to you. So, rather than typing the whole text, you can just pick and choose. It's a mix of predictive and auto-complete.

Q. There are lots language portals that have started coming up now. Do they also face the same challenges you did or are things different now?

A. I think the Internet user base is divided into four segments. The first segment is the early adapters, who are the pure English readers. The second segment is very comfortable with English, knowing a bit of other languages. They do visit local language properties. The third segment of users is the primary language users who know a bit of English. So their first preference is language properties and at the same time they also explore English sites. The fourth segment, which is the largest segment, is the language-only users. These are the users who are a challenge for everybody. We have to think about what they will look for when they come on to the Internet, which is a matter of time.

So, we have to think about the users of tomorrow and ensure that we have that content in the property and is not a conversion of English. These users are first time users, what you give them is going to be the challenge for everybody. And I think somebody who can get that right will be the winner and that's why the number one spot in India is still open and we are going to be number one!

Q. Do you think there is a lack of enough content to build up traction?

A. Yes, but in Hindi there is enough content available now. For other languages, content is still a challenge. But that content cannot be created overnight. Of course English started off earlier so there is enough content and now that Hindi is taking off, eventually there will be more content.

Q. How would you describe a user on your portal...the regional audience? How are they different in terms of demographics, characteristics and the way they surf the Net? How would you describe these users compared to an average user on any English portal?

A. The users who are coming on our portal now are from the third segment, whose primary language is the regional language and their secondary language is English. Their behavior is very much like any other user who doesn't want very serious content but looks for astrology, entertainment and some platform where they share their views...which is the second wave where users can contribute their own content and that's the direction we see users going in. Apart from that, they need to see other content such as poems, stories, kids' and women's content, education and health.

Q. Your email service is available in nine Indian languages. Would you say that this service is still the need of the hour, because how comfortable are people typing all their emails in local languages?

A. Actually that's not for today. Today's user is using English a lot, like the third segment which uses roman text but they still speak in local languages. They are not typing in script because they are not aware of it or they don't have a phonetic interface.

Going forward, it is very important to monitor the user's likes and dislikes. It may not be the need of today, but surely it's a need for tomorrow.

Q. It's the same with local language search. That is also something which is just coming up. When do you think it's going to pick up and will it really work?

A. It will, because for users there is a lot of local content available and the content is going to be the winner. At this moment there is no search engine providing that but language search engines are coming into the picture though they still have a long way to go. Webdunia also has a search engine which is in nine languages and we are working on it to ensure that the first page always returns the local content and not global content, as that is what the user is looking for.

Q. Are you looking at developing your search engine separately as a service?

A. It is already being done. We have a separate service called search.webdunia.com and there is a different team which works on it. It was launched about a couple of months ago.

Q. How do you think the local language will evolve on the net? When will the right time come for local language to be more mainstream?

A. I think this is the right time...as I said the third generation which is there is already looking for this content and the fourth generation won't come without the help of first set. Webdunia's philosophy is not that we are looking forward to be the only player. Until you seed the market you won't be able to drive the users. We have even provided content to MSN and Yahoo! No market can be successful if you are the only player, we have got to have good competition.

Q. Even the Internet is evolving as broadband comes in with rich media. Do you think this will help in making local language more popular?

A. Of course. Broadband accessibility has ensured that you get the Internet at home and people can explore it. When the broadband is available 24 hours people are exploring it and going through different segments and not necessarily only languages. As it becomes available in the local schools, at an early level children can explore it. Good schools already have broadband but then it needs to go to government schools as well. If they can put two computers with a broadband connection, which is not very expensive, there you go! If it can be made free for two-three years, I think it will create a big revolution in the country.

Q. Do you have plans to integrate video content on Webdunia?

A. We already have video content on Webdunia. We have two channels - 'Dharmayatra' and 'Aashtha and Andhvishvaas'. Video content is something a user would not spend one hour in watching, but would be very comfortable watching it for a few minutes. The Dharmayatra channel covers a famous temple and Aashtha and Andhvishvaas is about truth and myths.

Q. What about the blogging platform that you have recently made live? How is it doing right now?

A. We launched blogging with MyWebdunia about a month ago in a little different way. It's not just a plain blogging platform. It's a platform where users can create a portal where they can have different channels and content, invite other users. MyWebdunia will have more features launching every month. The Hindi blogging response has been very good and other languages are yet to take off.

Q. Does it have any community building features?

A. They are going to come and a lot more features. The platform is not a blog; it's not a YouTube, or a Yahoo! Gallery kind of thing. Users would be able to create polls, discussion boards, photo and video galleries. They would all be linked so there would be a rating system for highest views. It would also have search for photos, videos and text and privacy features. So you can create a private portal or a public portal.

Q. So its more like a social network?

A. Social networking will be one of the features. It will be more personalized...so even if you want to put some news through an RSS feed, you can do that.

Q. Are you planning to monetize it?

A. Whatever is the revenue mechanism it is through the advertising only. In fact, there is a good possibility that if we can give something back to users, we will do that.

Q. What is the response of the advertising community been towards the local language portals? Was it tough to get them on board? What kind of advertising do you have?

A. There response has been good. English has been there for quite some time. Every advertiser is looking for a new set of users. As far as advertisers are concerned, we have many advertisers such as Times Group, Live Mint, TVS, TataSky, HP, Compaq, Sulekha, BSNL and Spice Jet.

Q. What is the traffic like on your portals?

A. We are doing close to 70-80 million page views on all our properties combined. Of course, Hindi is the highest; Tamil is second highest, followed by Malayalam and Marathi. The Hindi portal accounts for over 50 per cent of the traffic.

Q. What about the mobile device? Obviously, from the internet the content will go on mobile. Will it be easier or tougher there to create local language content there?

A. It's early stages there...mobile phones are not as powerful as computers. But every month, we see new handsets with much more power. So, it's not tough. The only thing is that one has to see the same site which is on the internet. The mobile is very compact so it may not be that attractive but it is something new and you see content growing on WAP portals and mobile applications.

We have launched mobile applications on different operators for delivering our content. We have Dainik Samachar, which is a mobile portal where you find news, astrology and festival applications. We have easy SMS application which is value added application which you can download on your phone so you don't have to remember the short codes or keywords. Apart from that, content which is there on Webdunia is available on the mobile application as well.

Q. You recently launched a branding campaign where you spent Rs.25 crores. So how has the first phase of campaigning been?

A. It's been quite encouraging. To begin with we did the TVC that was live on Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, NDTV Profit and NDTV India.

TV advertising is going to continue and we will now add print and events. For radio there is a possibility we are working out ways to create a combination of on-ground and radio.

Q. How is it that you have been in business for a while and you came out with a campaign only recently. Was it a planned strategy?

A. When in 2000 we launched Webdunia, we did certain print campaigns but in 2001 there were problems in the dotcom industry. So, we shifted gears and went into the licensing business. So we did licensing for technology for about two-three years and now we are shifting focus to media as well as the Webdunia properties. We thought that now the time is right to do some promotions. We have planned our campaigns for the next three years.

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