afaqs! news bureau
Digital

Webdunia aims interactive features at younger audience

Webdunia has added features such as mail on mobile in languages, a Q&A platform and a gaming section

Webdunia, the portal which has versions in nine Indian languages, has announced new interactive features which the company hopes will attract the youth segment.

Webdunia had recently launched a mobile web portal and is now enabling its users to send mail from their mobiles in the nine languages. It has also launched an SMS platform through a short code through which users can read jokes and quotations and get advice on topics such as stocks, beauty and astrology. The company is making exam results available, too, on this short code.

Webdunia aims interactive features at younger audience
Webdunia has also launched online games (another popular online activity among the youth) with instructions in Indian languages. The latest game, called Mehengai, is based on inflation and features the Prime Minister, who has to balance the common man and the prices of commodities.

Another new addition to the site is Quest, which is a question and answer section where users can ask and answer each other’s questions.

The portal has also introduced online classifieds in local languages, which can be listed for free.

In 2007, Webdunia launched My Webdunia, a platform where users can create personalised pages and write their blogs in 10 languages.

Webdunia aims interactive features at younger audience
Pankaj Jain
Speaking to afaqs!, Pankaj Jain, president and chief operating officer of Webdunia, says, “These features have been introduced for existing users and also to attract a new set of users, especially the youth.”

In terms of advertising, Webdunia already has display ads, but Jain says the portal will soon have contextual and video ads. In contextual advertising, the ad displayed next to an article is related to the content of the article. The video ads will appear on Webdunia as standalone videos, Jain explains.

To promote the portal and its new features, the company is planning on-ground and online activities, he says.

Though there are no plans to add new languages in the near future, Jain says the next language on the list is probably Urdu.

Webdunia receives about two million unique visitors every month and is growing at the rate of 6-8 per cent month on month, claims the company. A majority of the site’s visitors are from non-urban India, mostly Class B and C cities.

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