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Over 20 Million Users in India Log on to 11.11 UC Shopping Festival
MUMBAI: Over 20 Million Indians logged on to UC Browser to take part in the recently concluded 11.11 UC Shopping Festival, part of Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. The 11.11 UC Shopping Festival, jointly presented by UC Browser, Paytm Mall, Paytm First, Lazada and AliExpress simultaneously ran across 5 key markets of India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The partnership brought forth exclusive deals, huge discounts and multiple offers across different categories. Delivering on its commitment of a localisation plan, the festival was available in 14 popular languages – English，Hindi，Tamil，Telugu，Marathi，Gujarati，Kannada，Malayalam，Bengali，Punjabi，Bahasa，Thai，Vietnamese and Russian.
Offering a comprehensive and enriching shopping experience, UC launched a slew of in-app activities. About 15 million Indian users took part in various in-app interactive activities on the UC Browser platform, including Treasure Hunt, “Invite Friends, Win free prize”, and Lucky Stars. UC distributed cashback and gifts of value in excess of Rs. 200 million, a jump of over 15x from the gifts and coupons distributed last year. Over 25 lakh Indian users took part in the popular Lucky Stars Game with over 700,000 users winning free prizes. UC also launched a “Mol, Tol” Challenge which became increasingly popular with the users during the course of the festival. The videos around the challenge generated over 10 million impressions.
With its commitment to create a comprehensive content ecosystem across multiple categories, UC Browser generated over 40 million-page views for content related to the Shopping Festival. More than 3000 pieces of GIFs and memes were generated during the shopping period and more than 70,000 articles were created on UC’s highly popular Shopping Channel, helping users understand various products and deals to make informed purchase choices.
“We are delighted at the overwhelming response to yet another edition of UC 11.11 Shopping Fest. The strong user participation has exceeded all our expectations and we are thrilled to announce that UC Browser generated over 1 billion viewable impressions for shopping fest-related content with over 700 million coming from Indian market alone”, said Mr Huaiyuan Yang, Vice President, UC Web Global Business.
UC Browser is the world’s No.1 third-party mobile browser and a content platform from Alibaba Innovation Initiatives Business Group. UC Browser has clocked in over 1.1 billion user downloads worldwide (excluding China) with half of its global installs from India.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
