Applications
Yahoo! launches oneSearch Beta in India
Mumbai: Yahoo! today expanded the reach of its popular mobile search service, Yahoo! oneSearch beta, to consumers in India. It will go live in beta today in seven countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. oneSearch reinvents search on the mobile and is designed to provide consumers instant, relevant answers on their mobile device. It can now be accessed through Yahoo!‘s mobile Web site, on any mobile phone with a browser and Internet access. |
Yahoo! Connected Life Asia Vice president and general manager David Ko said, “Consumers want search on their mobile phone to be entirely different from search on the PC. Yahoo! oneSearch is designed specifically for the mobile phone. It understands what busy consumers are looking for when they are on the move and brings up relevant answers in the first screen. It delivers better results with just one search, instead of a sea of websites.” Consumers in India will be able to access news, finance, weather, image, web and mobile web results and access new types of content over the coming months. For example, if a consumer wants to look for the latest information on a company, they just need to type Maruti into the search box. The search results will list the current stock price, latest news articles, the company website and more. |
The facility also has advertising built into the experience, enabling advertisers to reach consumers on their mobile devices across major mobile operators. Consumers will be able to click on an ad to go to the advertisers‘ mobile web site or a landing page to get additional information about the advertisers‘ offerings, including the ability to call the advertiser. Yahoo! oneSearch first launched on the company‘s Mobile Web service US in March 2007. |
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.
