2022-02-02 08:25:14
Google is trying to think deeper about markets like India: Sundar PichaiSundar Pichai said they are watching the blockchain space closely and looking at how they might contribute to the ecosystem and add value as a company.
Google parent Alphabet will continue to look at markets such as India to build new products that they can later roll out to other markets, CEO Sundar Pichai said.
"In general, we are trying to think deeper about these newer markets. It really lines up with our mission of building a more equitable Internet for everyone," Pichai said during the company's earnings conference call on February 1.
He noted that the company's $10 billion Google for India Digitization Fund is a "reflection of our confidence in the future of India, its digital economy, our desire to build products there, which we think will help us globally".
Pichai also mentioned that its payments product Tez (which was later rebranded and folded into Google Pay) has "informed their payment strategy globally". Google Pay is currently among the top UPI apps in India with a 35 percent share of the monthly UPI volumes and has been growing its financial services play in the country over the past year, through partnerships with firms such as Setu and Indifi among others.
India is currently the largest Android base across the world, and over the years, Google has tested or rolled out several India-first products and features like offline versions of YouTube and Google Maps which have then been extended to other markets.
The company's TikTok-like short video offering YouTube Shorts was also launched first in India in September 2020 and was then expanded to other markets like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada last year.
"When I look at YouTube in India, some of the commerce ideas we talked about, you may see us first stride in a India-first (manner) because we can get quicker feedback, very dynamic youthful population. And so we’ll do it there and then roll it out globally. We are constantly looking for opportunities like that," Pichai said.
On January 28, Google announced a $700 million investment in Bharti Airtel to acquire a 1.28 percent stake in the firm. The tech giant said it will also invest another $300 million in multi-year commercial agreements, which will include investments in making smartphones affordable across the price range and look at India-specific use cases for 5G, to accelerate cloud adoption, particularly for the small and medium businesses (SMBs).
The investment comes from Google's $10 billion India Digitisation Fund, which has backed startups such as Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation, InMobi's mobile content platform Glance, retail merchant commerce platform DotPe, and neobank Open, apart from Jio Platforms.
Closely watching the Web3 space
During the earnings conference call, Pichai also weighed in on web3, which is used to describe the next phase of the Internet, based on blockchain-based decentralised systems and technologies.
Pichai said they are watching the blockchain space closely and looking at how they might contribute to the ecosystem and add value as a company. For instance, Google's Cloud team is looking at how they can support their customers’ needs in building, transacting, storing value and deploying new products on blockchain-based platforms.
"Any time there is innovation, I find it exciting, and I think it is something we want to support the best we can. The web has always evolved, and it's going to continue to evolve and as Google, we have benefited tremendously from open-source technologies, and so we do plan to contribute there," Pichai said.
"Overall, I think technology will continue to evolve and innovate, and we want to be pro-innovation and approach it that way," he said.
In terms of financials, Alphabet posted record quarterly growth driven by strong growth in advertising sales and cloud sales revenues. Total revenues rose by 32% year-over-year (YoY) to $75 billion for the quarter, while net profit rose by 35.5% YoY to $20.6 billion.
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