MAM
Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru adds 16 new brands in six months of growth
MUMBAI: Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru, the city’s premier lifestyle and shopping destination, has strengthened its retail portfolio with 16 brand launches in just six months, marking an impressive phase of growth and curation. The latest to join its expanding lineup is The Souled Store, one of India’s most popular homegrown D2C apparel and lifestyle brands.
With its quirky, pop-culture-inspired aesthetic and officially licensed merchandise from Marvel, Disney, DC, Harry Potter, and Friends, The Souled Store brings an immersive, experience-led space to Bhartiya Mall’s fashion floor: one designed for millennial and Gen Z shoppers who crave creativity, comfort, and self-expression.
“Our retail mix is carefully curated to reflect the preferences of our catchment,” said Bhartiya Urban senior vice-president Ramaraju KN. “With a large base of millennials and Gen Zs, we’re focused on bringing in dynamic, experience-driven brands that resonate with their lifestyle and aspirations.”
The Souled Store joins a vibrant lineup of recent entrants including Shobitam, Peachmode, Biglilpeople, Indyvarna, Hush Puppies, Frangipani (featuring Chumbak, Imara, Voylla, and Abhishti), and Zoul & Zera. Earlier this year, the mall expanded into the home category with HomesToLife, offering premium furniture and design-led living solutions from Domicil, Fabbrica, and Corian.
Bhartiya Mall has also diversified its dining and lifestyle offerings, welcoming Frank’s Hot Dog, Liquid Story, and Lily Bloom’s, alongside five new kiosks including Cookie Man, Taara, Quem, The Man Company, and 3m Car Care.
Strategically located within the Bhartiya City township near Hebbal, the 7.5-lakh-square feat mall has emerged as a go-to lifestyle hub for North Bengaluru, catering to Gen Z, millennials, families, and working professionals alike. With an expanding catchment averaging 3,000 new homes and 3,000–5,000 office seats added each month, the mall is ideally positioned to meet the evolving needs of the city’s fast-growing population.
Brands
Google says Gemini AI cuts irrelevant ads by 40 percent
AI driven search and ad tools boost relevance and results for brands.
MUMBAI: In the never ending hunt for the right ad at the right moment, artificial intelligence may finally be sharpening the aim. Google says the integration of its multimodal AI models, Gemini, has reduced irrelevant advertisements across its platforms by 40 percent, as improved query understanding allows ads to match user intent more closely.
Speaking at a roundtable on Thursday, Google vice president of Global Ads Dan Taylor said the company has been steadily deploying Gemini powered upgrades to interpret complex search queries more accurately. “We have been making Gemini based improvements to query understanding at a rate of almost one launch per month over the last two years. As the models improve and our ability to deploy them improves, ad quality continues to get better,” Taylor said.
The improvements come as Google leans deeper into AI driven advertising tools. According to the company, 2025 saw a threefold increase in Gemini generated creative assets produced by advertisers using its AI powered ad solutions.
The company also highlighted how these tools are influencing marketing performance for brands in India.
Insurance marketplace Policybazaar recorded a 28 percent rise in health insurance sales while reducing cost per sale by 23 percent after adopting AI Max, a tool that interprets natural language search queries to improve ad targeting.
Meanwhile, hospitality platform OYO reported 50 percent higher return on ad spend (ROAS) and a 25 percent reduction in cost per acquisition after combining its existing search campaigns with Google’s Performance Max (PMax) advertising campaigns.
Taylor noted that evolving consumer behaviour is also reshaping how brands approach digital advertising. According to Google’s data, 86 percent of shoppers in India using Google Search said they were open to trying new brands or products, suggesting that AI driven discovery tools could increasingly influence purchase decisions.
Beyond advertising, Google is also investing in what it calls agentic commerce, an emerging model where AI agents autonomously assist users in discovering, comparing and purchasing products online.
“Our goal with agentic commerce is twofold, first, to remove the grunt work of shopping so consumers can focus on the fun parts; and second, to work hand in hand with the industry to build the foundations needed to make agentic commerce seamless and secure across the web,” Taylor said.
The push into AI enhanced advertising and commerce comes as Google’s core ads business continues to grow. The company recently reported $82.28 billion in advertising revenue, marking a 13.5 percent year on year increase.
For advertisers navigating an increasingly crowded digital landscape, Google is betting that smarter algorithms and sharper intent signals will make ads feel less like interruptions and more like timely suggestions.
