MAM
Dentsu acquires Israel’s digital performance agency abaGada
MUMBAI: With the aim of strengthening its presence in Israel and neighbouring countries and enhancing the range of digital services provided, Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd. has acquired Israel’s digital performance marketing agency abaGada Internet.
Founded in 2010, abaGada does not just stop at search engine optimization (SEO) when it comes to search engine marketing practices; the company’s grasp of various internal and external factors such as the analysis of customer and user behavior and other strengths in the digital performance marketing domain leads to results.
Moreover, abaGada offers a variety of services including search engine marketing (SEM) to increase the number of visitors from the search engine to owned media such as a corporate website, and the creation and dissemination of owned media content coupled with social media. Although many of its clients are companies operating in Israel, abaGada also provides services targeting the customers of multinationals in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
There are a number of excellent venture companies in Israel, and the country’s reputation for its innovative strengths has resulted in its being referred to as the second Silicon Valley. With its advanced technological strengths and development capabilities, abaGada is expected to function as the Group’s digital technology hub in Israel and neighboring countries in the region.
The Dentsu Group has to date provided services to clients in Israel through its media communications agency Carat, one of the Group’s global network brands. Post-acquisition, abaGada will transition toward operating as iProspect, another of the Group’s global network brands which has strengths in the digital performance domain, and provide impetus for the development of a collaborative framework with Carat in the media and digital domains.
For the year ended December 2014 abaGada revenue stood at GBP 3,500,000.
Brands
MakeMyTrip partners with OpenAI to boost AI-powered travel planning
Conversational AI now guides travellers from inspiration straight to booking
GURUGRAM: MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has teamed up with OpenAI to bring a fresh twist to AI-driven travel planning. The collaboration integrates OpenAI’s APIs into MakeMyTrip’s app, making it easier than ever for travellers to move from chatting about dream trips to booking them.
The move centres around MakeMyTrip’s Myra interface, a GenAI trip planning assistant that now handles over 50,000 conversations a day in languages ranging from English and Hindi to Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Myra helps travellers explore options, create itineraries and book flights, hotels and extras without the usual hassle of searching and filtering.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and group CEO Rajesh Magow said, “With OpenAI, we turn curiosity into confident decisions. When travellers start their journey through conversation, MakeMyTrip becomes a seamless extension of that discovery process. AI combined with our travel data makes it possible to deliver personalised, bookable options at scale.”
OpenAI managing director- international Oliver Jay added, “MakeMyTrip is showing how AI can make travel planning feel more like a conversation than a chore. Advanced AI isn’t just about back-end efficiencies, it’s about transforming the way travellers experience and engage with the platform.”
MakeMyTrip has long invested in AI across the travel lifecycle, from inspiration and discovery to booking and post-sales support. Nearly half of Myra’s queries now come from tier-2 and smaller cities, and voice interactions are booming outside metros, making AI travel assistance more accessible than ever.
With this partnership, MakeMyTrip is not just keeping up with AI trends, it’s aiming to lead the way, turning every traveller’s whim into a smooth, bookable adventure.
