Applications
9X Media partners with Vserv.mobi for app monetization
MUMBAI: Music television network – 9X Media has appointed Vserv.mobi, a global mobile ad network for app developers, publishers and advertisers, as its exclusive application monetisation partner for its games and applications on the android platform.
Vserv.mobi will monetize 9XM‘s entertainment apps on the platform via premium ads powered by the Vserv AppWrapper.
The network already has music and gaming apps on the IOS platform. The 9X Music Network Android App is used for live streaming of 9XM, 9X Jalwa, 9X Tashan and 9X Jhakaas. The network has also launched Android apps featuring 9XM‘s characters – Bade and Chote. These Android apps include Joke Central which plays the signature ‘Bakwaas Bandh Kar‘ videos and Talking Buddies, which is an interactive talking app featuring ‘Bade & Chote‘.
Another offering is Amar Prem which provides content from Bollywood hits music channel 9X Jalwa and also gives the opportunity to tap one‘s BQ (Bollywood Quotient). The application has over 500 cool translations of popular Bollywood numbers. All the three apps are enabled by AppWrapper monetisation and will be available as free downloads on the Android Play Store.
Vserv.mobi VP – business development – India and Middle East Rohit Verma said, "This is a big step forward in the mainstreaming of the mobile medium." This partnership with 9X Media brings entertaining content and iconic characters from television on to the mobile medium.
Verma said with Indian content such as Joke Central and Talking buddies now being ‘APPified‘, brand advertisers on our network will be able to reach their audience in a very localised and engaging context.
9X Media SVP – digital Vibha Gosher said, "Our content is extremely popular on television and now, with consumers being addicted to mobile screens, we are bringing the same engaging experience, to the various mobile platforms through applications. Having launched 13+ IOS based Games and Applications; we are now focusing on the Andriod market space to connect with the large base of Andriod phone users. We believe mobile is the future, and partnering with Vserv.mobi enables us to monetize our efforts, while delivering our premium unique content to millions of mobile consumers."
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
