iWorld
GUEST COLUMN: Mobile marketing in the OTT landscape: Big opportunity for digital marketers
Mumbai: The rise in both viewership and engagement of over-the-top (OTT) has opened up a world of possibilities for marketers looking for new and better ways to reach their consumers sitting in the comfort of their homes. Recent reports estimate that the OTT segment will grow to approximately $ four billion by 2025.
Confirming this trend, India saw a huge upsurge in media consumption between March and June 2020. By the end of 2020, OTT video subscribers almost tripled to nearly 62 million, up from 32 million at the end of 2019. This accelerated growth of the Indian SVOD industry is assumed to be caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the fact that the OTT streaming business is dominated by large corporations such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon Prime, smaller OTT streaming services continue to emerge. In order to have an edge over these budding competitors, it’s essential to utilise the power and proven results of mobile marketing.
Before we dive into the strategies, below are some major trends that mobile marketers must be cognisant of, to make the best use of this ripe opportunity:
Mobile is becoming the first choice for content: Mobile has surpassed traditional TV as the main growth route for video distribution. In fact, mobile collaborations now account for more than half of all recent OTT video bundle deals, indicating that customers are increasingly using mobile devices. As more MNOs subsidise at no additional cost to encourage upsell and retention, this trend is anticipated to continue.
The rise of 5G: Because 5G internet is projected to become the standard, especially in metropolitan areas, it will permanently transform streaming patterns.
Shared viewing due to lockdown: The entire population has been forced to stay at home owing to worldwide lockdowns, which has resulted in a fast rise in the consumption of content. Many OTT platforms, such as Netflix and Disney+, quickly acted on this and launched technology that allows individuals to view films together on a video chat, allowing platform users to stream in sync, to assist customers to isolate themselves and social distance. GroupWatch on Disney+ and Teleparty on Netflix have been huge hits, and it’s a trend that is likely to remain.
Shift in OTT Model: Live and linear OTT services, which are projected to be an essential element of the future generation of OTT video, have a large growth opportunity based on existing watching trends and untapped video segments. Pay-TV providers are ideally positioned to offer live streaming services that make use of content that is best enjoyed in real-time, such as news, weather, talk programs, and sports. In the future, the content will be re-bundled under an OTT structure, whereas the previous cable model concentrated on content unbundling.
Now, in OTT, when it comes to developing a short- or long-term marketing strategy, mobile marketing is a critical component. There’s a mobile marketing channel for every segment of your audience where they are most comfortable, from email to pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO), content marketing, and social media marketing.
To be effective with mobile marketing, marketers must provide a consistent experience that customers expect—which may be difficult to do when you’re trying to attract, engage, and retain people across several platforms.
Following are some of the key things that marketers must keep in mind while crafting strategies for the OTT landscape-
Push notifications are key: User-behavior-driven push notifications should remain a crucial component of the entire engagement plan, which are proven to boost engagement rates by as much as 80 per cent.
Value recommendations of customers: It’s extremely important for marketers to understand the preference of their customers and value their suggestions. Viewing history, in-app behavior, and daily time of app launch are some of the data points that when accumulated continuously will give a wealth of information on customer behavior, significantly helping personalisation. This personalisation will further help in increasing in-app time spent by generating the most appropriate content recommendations over time.
Timing is crucial: Focusing on personalisation and context is very important to make mobile marketing work for OTT platforms. However, what’s also important is delivering the content, suggestions, and notifications at the correct time, the results of which are proven to be phenomenal.
Conversion of freemium subscribers to paying customers is imperative: Acquiring users is definitely important when it comes to implementing a growth strategy, but the end goal should be to turn the subscribers who are consuming content for free into paying customers. Hence, marketers need to focus on pitching the platform’s subscription options, with appropriate personalisation, to the customer.
Make the customers feel important: Finally, building brand loyalty is the key at every stage, and this can be done by making customers feel valued by addressing their feedback. Hence, through personalised and crafted push notifications and in-app messages, repeat users can be encouraged to rate and review the OTT platform.
Connecting the links between online and offline media is the future of mobile marketing. When used with other, more traditional media, mobile is a strong tool that should be viewed as the glue that holds everything together. The competitive environment for OTT apps, both native and browser-based, is continuously shifting. Benchmarking one’s performance and development versus industry norms is essential for marketers.
OTT marketers need to note that distinctions between the provision of and accessibility to high-quality content across OTT platforms will continue to merge. How they can achieve a substantial competitive edge is by using data-driven AI-powered customised, relevant, and time-bound multi-channel dialogues with consumers. For successful user engagement for your media, marketers must take advantage of every single mobile moment!
(Dave Dabbah is former chief marketing officer of CleverTap. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
