Google India: Internet Behemoth

Google in India has been growing strongly, adding millions of subscribers every month across its various platforms.

With high scores across parameters like ‘trustworthy leadership’, ‘financial returns’ and ‘work culture’, Google India is ranked fifth in BW Businessworld’s list of Most Respected Companies for 2021-22. It was ranked second in last year’s list.

According to a recent industry report, Google had a global market share of 93.37 per cent in the search engine market between January 2022 and February 2023. Moreover, the report indicated that Google had established a clear monopoly on the mobile search engine market in India, with a share of 99.74 per cent as of November 2022. Additionally, the report stated that Chrome had an estimated 87 per cent share of the browser market in India in December 2022. Furthermore, India surpassed the United States as the country with the most YouTube users, an estimated 225 million against 197 million in the US.

While 2021-22 was somewhat better for the company worldwide, 2023 started on a sour note, at least for thousands of employees. As part of an overall reduction in its workforce, Google announced layoffs across geographies. India is not an exception. As per reports, Google laid off around 450 employees recently. As per estimates, Google in India employs around 5,500-6,000 employees. Towards end of 2021, Google in India had plans to double its workforce. But that is not the case now. Overall, Google is reducing its workforce by 6 per cent.

Growth Year
Google India is an authorised reseller of advertising space for the Google Adwords programme and other Google advertising products and services in India. Additionally, the company provides IT/ITeS, marketing, and other support services to its associated entities

Google India witnessed a remarkable surge in its net profit and total revenue for the financial year 2021-22, due to the pandemic-driven boom in online advertising as a result of increased digital adoption. According to the company's latest filing with the Registrar of Companies, shared by business intelligence platform Tofler, Google India's net profit was Rs 1,238.9 crore, which is a 53.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase from the Rs 808 crore profit in the financial year preceding it. Additionally, its operating revenue jumped to Rs 9,286 crore for the financial year, representing a 48.4 per cent YoY growth from Rs 6,257.1 crore in the previous financial year. Furthermore, the total revenue of Google India rose to Rs 9,439.3 crore for the financial year, a 46 per cent YoY rise from Rs 6,386.2 crore in the financial year before it. The gross advertising revenue also witnessed an impressive growth, soaring to Rs 24,926.5 crore for the year, a 79.5 per cent YoY surge from Rs 13,886.7 crore in the past year. Lastly, the net advertising sales of Google India skyrocketed to Rs 2,080.9 crore, up from Rs 1,624.5 crore in FY21.

Go Digital
Addressing the India Digital Summit, Sanjay Gupta, Country Head and VP of Google India, highlighted the unique opportunity India presents for the development of technology solutions that could help bridge the disparities between the population. “Those on the edges of digital transformation face the threat of being left behind. Startups and the digital landscape will be significant game-changers for the digital economy of this country -- driving it from USD 250 billion to a USD1 trillion economy and accounting for more than half of India's growth over the coming five years,” Gupta said.