Google bets on India growth; to hire for brand advt business

"Our focus in India is growth. India is going to be one of the 10 most impactful market for Google in three to five years...minimal impact on India in terms of job cuts announced globally," Google India MD Shailesh Rao said.

The US-based company did not reveal its India revenue or headcount. It has two R&D centres here. Outside the US, India has one of the highest headcounts, Rao said.

"At the moment India does not drive global revenue," Rao said.

The search engine, which has a monopoly position in India, is also looking at hiring here to strengthen its brand advertising revenue stream which is a new growthdriver.

"Hiring is to continue in India. We need a team for brand advertising. India is one of the largest employers outside the US and it is a strategic location with good technical skills and manpower and is among the highest growth markets for Google," he said.

He, however, added that in India the company is hiring at a reduced level and is need based. Though Google has announced global job cuts, there is minimal impact on India in terms of those cuts, he said.

Earlier this year, Google announced trimming as many as 200 jobs in sales and marketing operations worldwide.

According to sources, Google India has close to 2,000 employees.

Talking about the potential of online brand building business in the times of slowdown, he said, "We are bullish on brand building. Companies are cutting ad budgets but online ad spent is increasing. Because companies are struggling in the economic downturn and their marketing budgets being adjusted downwards, we have to deal with such an impact.

"There is also a shift in advertising from offline to online. Advertising online is a safer investment. It can be tracked, measured. it is based on the performance... tough economic conditions has put online advertising on a good stead."