MAM
Airtel partners with Google to offer search services on Airtel Mobile
MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel and Google announced a strategic partnership that is expected to set new grounds in mobile search and help redefine the mobile internet in India. As part of the agreement, Airtel will bring Google search to the Airtel Live mobile WAP portal. Google will also incorporate advertising through its Mobile Ads product on the Airtel Live mobile portal.
The Google search engine on Airtel Live mobile portal will enable Airtel users to use the Google search engine to easily access content. Google will power searches on Airtel Live in two areas – on net (rich content on Airtel Live) and off net (Internet on Mobile). Airtel Live has over 50,000 exclusive pieces of content including information like news, stock ticker and sports scores and downloadable content like games, music, video clips and wall papers. Also, for customers who access the Internet through their mobile phone, Airtel will bring to them the power of Google in a format that makes mobile surfing an enjoyable experience.
Google will also incorporate Mobile Ads, which are text advertisements based on search terms that are displayed alongside search results on the Airtel Live mobile portal. This will enable advertisers to reach targeted users with their products and services on a cost-per-click basis. This new business model is a first for both consumers and businesses in India.
“In India, mobile is fast outgrowing the growth of PCs. Mobile users outnumber PC users in India by a factor of six. The first computing experience for the majority of Indians in the next few years will be on a mobile phone. Airtel is delighted to partner with Google, a company that literally reinvented the Internet, to bring its cutting edge technology to our customers.” Said Manoj Kohli, President, Bharti Airtel Ltd. “By offering Google services to our customers, Airtel strengthens its commitment to innovation. With this service, World Wide Web has literally converged into the handheld device enabling anytime, anywhere access to information and entertainment for Airtel customers,” he added.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Latin America Operations, Google said, “Today, India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. We are very pleased to partner with Airtel, a company that has played a key role in leading India‘s explosive mobile growth, to bring Google services to the millions of mobile users in India. By providing immediate access to Google, Airtel is creating a compelling experience for its users, who will now be able to quickly and easily find information that‘s important to them.”
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Google nears Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
Market cap gap narrows as Google hits $4.65 trillion, Nvidia at $4.86 trillion.
MUMBAI: In the AI gold rush, even the giants are sprinting and Google is suddenly gaining ground. Google is rapidly closing in on Nvidia in the race to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, with the gap between the two narrowing sharply amid diverging stock momentum. The tech giant’s market capitalisation has surged to around $4.65 trillion, following a more than 140 per cent rise in its share price over the past year.
That rally has added over $2.6 trillion in value in just 12 months, including nearly $900 billion since January alone. Its stock recently hovered at $381.80, slipping marginally by 0.04 per cent, but still reflecting strong upward momentum.
Nvidia, meanwhile, continues to hold the top spot with a valuation of approximately $4.86 trillion. The chipmaker crossed the $5 trillion milestone in October last year and peaked at $5.27 trillion on 27 April. However, its shares have largely plateaued over the past six months, rising just 0.2 per cent recently to $199.99.
The contrast in trajectories is striking. While Nvidia has seen relatively flat movement, Google has gained over 36 per cent in the same six-month period. Barron’s estimates suggest that if current trends hold, the valuation gap could shrink to as little as $190 million by the time Nvidia reports its first-quarter earnings on 20 May.
Daily momentum paints a similar picture. Nvidia recorded average daily gains of about 0.66 per cent last month, compared to Google’s stronger 1.42 per cent, an edge that could prove decisive in the short term.
Driving Google’s resurgence is its aggressive push into artificial intelligence across its ecosystem, from search and YouTube to cloud computing. The company has already invested $144 billion in capital expenditure over the past two years and plans to deploy a further $490 billion over the next two.
Its cloud division is also gathering pace. Google Cloud reported an order backlog of nearly $220 billion in the latest quarter, with total backlog touching a record $462 billion, around half of which is expected to be realised within two years. The company’s entry into chip sales is also beginning to factor into its growth narrative.
The last time Google briefly topped the S&P 500 by market value was in February 2016, when it edged past Apple for just two days. This time, the stakes and the numbers are far higher.
At the heart of the contest lies a single force: artificial intelligence. As both companies pour billions into infrastructure, chips and platforms, the leaderboard is no longer just about size, it is about who can scale the future faster.
