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Digital advertising to touch Rs 43.91 bn by 2013 in India: IAMAI
MUMBAI: The digital advertising in India is expected to reach Rs 35.35 billion by the end of this calendar year and Rs 43.91 billion by March 2013, according to the annual digital advertising report jointly published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB).
As of March 2012, the total advertising spends, including classifieds, were valued at Rs 28.50 billion. Of which 20 per cent are in search advertising, 13 per cent in portal/vortal websites, three per cent in social media ads, five per cent in advertising on email services, two per cent on video ads, four per cent in mobile devices and the major part (i.e. 53 per cent) relates to classified listings.
Since March 2010, there has been a strong growth of around 25 per cent in all the components of digital advertisement (search, display, classifieds and mobile).
The report said that according to publicly available sources, the total size of offline advertising market including print, TV, OOH, radio, cinema is Rs 265.01 billion in the year 2012. Compared to this, the digital market, at Rs 28.51 billion, is almost 11 per cent of the conventional medium.
Sector wise, travel industry uses display advertising most followed by automobile, telecom and BFSI. 39 per cent of all display ads are of simple flash, 24 per cent are images while 24 per cent are rich media with video. The display ad spend by automotive companies has increased. Its overall share has risen from 9 per cent in FY2010 to 13 per cent in FY2011 to 14 per cent in FY2012.
Search advertising is also used the most by travel, followed by BFSI and online publishers. In FY‘12, 90 per cent or Rs 5.25 billion of search spend is in terms of SEM (search engine marketing) i.e. buying or bidding for adwords. This is in comparison to Rs 580 million for SEO (search engine optimisation).
Total ad spend on mobile in FY2011 was Rs 900 million which has increased to Rs 1.05 billion in FY2012. WAP /browser based ads constitute to around 74 per cent of total mobile ad spend while in-app advertisements constituted to around 20 per cent.
Also, total ad spends on social media increased from Rs 800 in FY2011 to Rs 940 million in FY2012.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
