As seen on 'agencyfaqs!', Google has initiated an SMS-based search service in India. Now, mobile users can use Google SMS by searching the company’s short code, 54664. Presently, the service is undergoing tests and is available in four metro cities of India- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Besides, Google has tied up with Airtel, Aircel, BPL, BSNL and Reliance for the broadband service. The charge is a minimum cost of 3 rupees per sms.
Prasenjit Phukan, product manager of Google India, said, “The product is being tested for a selected group of users, but we intend to expand it to other cities and operators.â€
Though Google SMS is highly in use in the US, Japan and Europe markets, Phukan assures that India is the first emerging market. Though there is no announcement of any advertising model by Google itself, Phukan states,"For this product, we are focused on providing local information. We are not looking at branding opportunities right now. We are using Google’s technology to make it more intuitive."
Having an automatic spelling correction feature, Google has already made an accord with Airtel for WAP search and has also launched its 'AdSense' programme for placing ads on mobile sites.
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Actually the price of Google SMS varies by operator – its Rs 0.80 on BSNL, Rs.2 on Airtel, and Rs. 3 on the rest.
Rs 2-3 to search seems expensive right now!
Lets see if it catches up (though I doubt it will in near future)
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