Localized content search, powered by Guruji
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 05 January 2007, 18:30 IST
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Bangalore: Guruji.com, backed by Sequoia Capital India, announced that it would kick off its city-specific search with Pune. This will help Pune users of the site get accurate search results. Elaborating on the utility of the service, Gaurav Mishra, Co-Founder & COO, Guruji.com said, “90% of internet search queries are local in nature, and Guruji.com will deliver better search results than any other search engine in these instances. For example if a user types a search “Pizza in Pune”, the user will be able to see local business listings as well as articles, reviews, blogs, or any other web references.” “There are several local search engines in India. However, these are based on directories and are not on technology. Guruji.com uses crawl technology based on complex computing systems to identify and offer comprehensive search for Indian content on the web,” explained Anurag Dod, co-founder and CEO, Guruji.com. Guruji.com is also developing virtual keyboards that would enable users across the country to search for content in their local languages. “Guruji.com will bring regional language search in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu in the next couple of months,” said Dod. By December 2007, the company plans to launch regional language search for 10 Indian languages. “Ninety per cent of internet search queries are local in nature and therefore provides ideal platform for Guruji.com to enter and tap this market,” he added. According to a study done by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), there are about 65 million people who use search engines in India and the current size of market for search engine advertising is $50 million. This market is expected to grow significantly over the next five years. Guruji.com has a commitment of $7 million from Sequoia Capital India. Guruji.com will look for an additional $10 million funding in the middle of the next year. Dod said the company has prototype ready for a mobile search engine and was exploring options of either tying up with service providers or companies like mauj.com.

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