The local search market in India sure is heating up. After Guruji and OnYoMo, telephone directory search company Just Dial has launched its online local search services at JustDial.com. Most other local search services have tied up with Infomedia for local data, while Just Dial already has a fairly large database of its own.
We’d broken the news in October of Just Dial receiving funding from SAIF Partners. Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner, SAIF Partners had said then that Just Dial has Internet and mobile plans. The mobile search service will be made available by SMS to 3999. In that context, it’s interesting that Just Dial’s search is powered by Ziva Software, which had recently launched a local mobile search service called Zook.
At JustDial, I did a search for ‘Chinese Restraunts’ (intentional typo) in Bandra, Mumbai and got some pretty interesting results: Firstly, the site gave me relevant search options, and then a price range for restaurants. As per the release, JustDial intends to include menu cards, and in case of movie tickets - link to online ticketing services.
Two issues that I see hindering usage: first is consumer awareness, for which there is TV Commercials, and the second is the issue of spam. JustDial, for their telephone search service, shares details of queries with vendors (a friend of mine paid Rs.100 per query forwarded to him by JustDial). So far, the site has sponsored listings for revenue generation.
Related:
—Guruji.com Ties Up With Infomedia To Get Access To Latter’s Business Listings
—Telephone Directory Search Company JustDial Gets Funding From SAIF Partners