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Computing/Networking/Internet
engineers to work on aspects of a next-generation search engine, including cutting-edge research
in information retrieval, distributed systems, machine learning, data mining, theoretical computer
science, statistics, search algorithms, scalability issues and user interfaces. At around the same
time, Google opened a software testing, sales, and support center in Hyderabad.
The firm was under intense competitive pressure to maintain its technology lead in search over
Yahoo! and Microsoft, and it needed access to quality talent. Arriving in India later than many tech
companies, Google learned from others’ mistakes in setting up a captive center. “When we set up
three and a half years ago, the multinationals were already here and were hiring en masse,” recalls
vice president of online sales and operations David Fischer. “We learned that if cost savings heads
your list of top five priorities, you’ll achieve that while missing out on other opportunities.”
Google India HR director Manoj Varghese notes that the company’s India presence isn’t about
outsourcing or offshoring, but is part of a global enterprise that develops engineering for both
global and local products. He sees continued exponential growth in the Indian market, saying,
“In three to five years we might have more end users in India than in the U.S.” Already, Google
is India’s leading search engine, and India constitutes Google’s largest operation in Asia. Email,
chat rooms, and information search are the most common Internet uses, and B2B activity is limited.
But sales tied to Gmail, advertising, blogging, online purchasing, e-commerce sites, and job
sites are growing rapidly. Consumers are also becoming more comfortable with using credit
cards. Today’s limitations in India’s market are also opportunities: most connections are still dialup
and many Indians access the net at Internet cafes. As broadband grows, so will sales.
In early 2006, Google opened business offices in Delhi and Mumbai, hiring Indiatimes.com general
manager and business head of e-commerce Ashish Kashyap to handle sales and operations.
A key India market objective was to promote Google Adwords, a technology that matches textbased
ads to user search queries. Early advertisers in India included Citibank, Monster India,
Bharatmatrimony.com, MakeMyTrip, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, ICICI Bank, Shaadi.com,
eBay India, and Birla Sunlife.
Fischer notes that building markets in India was initially a daunting process, given low personal
computer ownership, the number of languages, difficulties setting up reliable online payment and
fulfillment logistics, and the fact that people were uncomfortable buying products sight unseen.
Some of Google’s greatest successes have been surprises: videoconferencing, mobile text messaging
launched in 2007, and the Orkut social networking site that was developed for the Brazil
market and migrated on its own to India. “Orkut took off independent of any marketing,”
Fischer says. “It was one of those cases where you build things of use, put them out there, and
see what happens.”
He describes Google’s global growth strategy as one of “value being created around an extended
model of hiring smart people and turning them loose.” In February 2007, the company invested in
two early-stage venture funds in India, Seedfund and Erasmic, a first for Google at the time. It later
invested in Ventureast Tenet Fund II, a seed-stage collaboration of the Tenet Group of IIT-
Madras and Ventureast Fund Advisors to help startups and bridge the digital divide. Google also
joined the Indian Angel Network, a professional organization to promote entrepreneurship.
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