MAM
Advertiser turnover from online blogs, forums in India increased by 7 times in H1 2019
MUMBAI: In a move which underlines how lucrative new traffic channels can be for advertisers, Admitad India has recently analysed online orders and sales data that its partner advertisers in India have received in the first half of 2019. As per the research, sales through the platform brought by new affiliate traffic channels such as blogs, chat-based messengers, social media groups, and Instagram/YouTube accounts in India exceeded $2.5 million during the reporting period – marking a 63 per cent increase over the corresponding data in H2 2018.
More importantly, there is a massive growth opportunity that new traffic channels represent for brands and advertisers. Online blogs, forums, and other traffic platforms affiliated with Admitad India registered a 7x increase in the advertiser turnover driven through them. With advertiser turnover from messengers also exceeding $10,000 in India in the first six months of 2019, the research also underlined the potential of chat-based messengers as an impactful affiliate marketing channel.
It also identified a growing shift amongst new-age publishers toward affiliate partnerships to amplify their revenue streams. The total number of publishers (new traffic channels) working as affiliates on the Admitad platform increased by over 24.22 per cent between H2 2018 and H1 2019. Blogs, online forums, and other channels registered a healthy growth of around 27.74 per cent in the number of publishers, while YouTube publishers working as affiliates grew by 14.63 per cent. Most remarkable was the growth of affiliates on newer channels such as chat-based messengers, which registered an exponential growth of 125 per cent during the reporting period.
With the introduction of browser extensions like Admitad Lite, this rapid growth trajectory is expected to only accelerate in the near future. Such tools help publishers overcome the entry barriers into the affiliate marketing space and make it simpler for them to seamlessly explore advertiser programs and create affiliate links to advertisers’ websites. Admitad Lite significantly speeds up and simplifies the work of publishers, who often have to deal with a large number of links and compare offers from different advertisers.
Standard tools for monetising traffic are often inconvenient for content creators due to restrictions or service rules. Admitad Lite, on the contrary, caters to this need-gap by drastically reducing the time taken by publishers to register and launch affiliate campaigns. This, in turn, increases clickthrough ratios and bolster sales for advertisers while also augmenting affiliate revenues for publishers – thus maximising the value that online traffic creates for stakeholders across the value chain.
The easy registration process facilitated by Admitad Lite connects publishers with more than 60,000 affiliate programs and 30,000 advertisers around the globe with just one click. It also does away with the need for moderation of publisher websites and enables access to offers and programs that were previously unavailable. This makes it the perfect tool for novice bloggers, micro/macro-influencers, and owners of groups and communities on social networks who are looking to enter the world of CPA marketing, as well as veteran affiliates looking to amplify their incomes.
Speaking on the insights and recent product developments, Admitad India CEO Neha Kulwal said, “In the last couple of years, microbloggers and influencers have become an integral part of the digital marketing value chain. Today’s digital-first audiences trust their opinions and recommendations more than they trust traditional advertising formats. This paradigm shift is one of the biggest reasons why we have witnessed sales numbers through new traffic channels grow at such a robust pace. With the number of bloggers looking to work with affiliate networks also registering healthy growth, we are committed to developing more innovative monetisation tools that can amplify the profitability and operational scale of our partner affiliates. The update of Admitad Extension and launch of Admitad Lite is a testament to this commitment.”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
