Yahoo! India launches special site for 2009 elections

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 01 April 2009, 00:41 IST   |    9 Comments
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Bangalore: Yahoo! India has launched a new site focused on providing users with up-to-date information on upcoming 2009 general elections. Users can access all the election updates on elections.yahoo.in As India gears up for its biggest parliamentary elections this summer, Yahoo! India's elections site aims at creating an involved and an informed voter. With various political parties and leaders already using the Internet as a medium to reach out to voters, these elections are also about catering to a large online audience. Apart from being able to view the latest news updates, the elections site will let users share their opinions and updates on various leaders and constituencies during elections, thus help in making an informed choice. In order to cater to a large section of youth, several of whom could be voting for the first time, the special elections site also focuses on educating them on the importance of casting their votes. Updates on election schedules, expert analysis, online polls, discussion forums, opinions and photos would be some of the other key features on the site. As the site evolves, Yahoo! India will also include interesting features like 'Manifesto Comparisons' (a user can compare manifestos of various political parties) as well as comic strips on various news and updates during the tenure of the elections. Gopal Krishna, Vice President - Emerging Markets & Acting Country Head for Yahoo! India said, "The Internet has emerged as a pervasive medium and is playing a significant role in shaping the way people collaborate and interact on topics that matter such as general elections. Yahoo! India, through its special elections microsite, is providing users with a platform to participate in shaping the future of the world's largest democracy." According to Pearl Uppal, Director - Sales, Yahoo! India, "Political parties and advertisers have come of age and are now actively looking at the digital medium to reach the youth audience, a key demographic for them. We have been approached by leading political parties and their agencies that have shown keen interest in advertising on Yahoo! to communicate with a highly engaged audience on the Yahoo! network. This is indeed an encouraging trend in the new age media." With most advertisements keeping elections as a base for showcasing their products offlate, Yahoo! India offers advertisers a highly interactive medium to engage consumers through this special elections site.