Google to enable mobile presence for SMEs via app

Search giant Google will in a few weeks time launch a mobile application that will allow small and medium enterprises (SME) an online presence. This will allow SMEs to have an online presence first on mobile without a domain name or even a website.

According to Suryanarayana Kondukulla, head of SMB sales, Google India, the app will permit SMEs to have an online presence within 15-20 minutes. "People come to Google to get information. With this app SMEs can get online presence, they will also find themselves on the Google Map. The entire process of getting online will be very simple," he added.

Though Kondukulla did not say that with this app Google in a way will do away the use of having a website and a domain name, he did agree that the app will allow instant online address. "For a lot of Indians it is through mobile that they are using internet for the first time. Initially since the app is just for identifying a business in an area, we are not looking at an immediate conversion of this into ad revenues," said Kondukulla.

Kondukulla also further added that creating a presence online through an app could well be the first option for many to get online and then based on their experience they can very well then create a website. Google has been significanlty sacling up its efforts to get SMEs online.

India, according to a study by Zinnov on behalf of Google, India has 100 million smartphone users in India and adds 5 million users every month. The study also found that engagement on mobile has been rising.

For the SMEs, which are about 48 million in India, about 10 million are technology ready and present in the top 15 cities of India and can immediately benefit from Internet. However, of these only 600,000 have websites and of this 100,000 are ready for active online activation. The need for SMEs to have mobile presence also steams from the fact that in the top 15 cities in India more than 70 per cent SME owners use internet through a mobile device for business.

For Google getting more and more SMEs online is part of 'digitising India' initiative wherein they get significant number of SMEs online to connect with potential customers. "For Google India is a strategic market. The SME market in India is the fastest growing market for Google globally," added he. Google has globally two million businesses using Google's advertising platform to find potential buyers.

To be able to cater to this huge SME segment, Google has increased its partner eco-system too. It has about 2,000 partners across 65 cities helping SMEs to get online. "India is not a do-it-yourself market. Here enterprises need handholding when it comes to creating presence online, unlike several other markets. So we have increased that number," added Kondukulla.

As a part of getting more and more SMEs online Google launched 'Google SME Hero' campaign that celebrates local SMEs who have embraced the internet to grow their business. Google has tied-up with CII to reach to maximum number of SMEs under the industry body's fold. As a part of this campaign Google is visiting five cities- Chennai, Pune, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Jaipur- from where they will select five SMEs who will go to Delhi and a winner will be chosen.

The SME Heroes camapign was kicked off ten days back at Chennai. Google that visited Pune today, identified five companies from Pune as part of this campaign.