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Google launches new campaign for display advertising in India
MUMBAI: Google India is launching a new advertising campaign in India to raise awareness among Indian agencies and marketers about its display advertising platform.
The campaign, titled ‘Watch This Space’, will include online, print, direct mail, and outdoor ads. This is the first time Google India is advertising its display products at scale in India.
The campaign underscores Google’s commitment to display advertising and its aim is to improve the industry for advertisers, agencies, publishers, and users, the Internet giant said in a statement.
Google’s display efforts are focused on three key areas: simplifying the complex process of buying and selling display ads, delivering performance and precise measurement for advertisers across the Google Display Network including YouTube and Orkut, and opening the display ecosystem for more players.
Outlining Google’s vision for display advertising, Google head of media and platform for Japan and the Asia Pacific Shailesh Rao said, “We think the complexities in the display landscape can be addressed with better technology — similar to search advertising, a field that Google has been investing in for over a decade. We believe that display campaigns can be more measurable, precise and efficiently managed to engage the right audience and help brand advertisers. With ‘Watch This Space’, we want to explain how Google is helping to make display advertising even better and to showcase the opportunities in this space for agencies and marketers in India.”
Google said that it is already working closely with Indian agencies, advertisers, and publishers; 22 of the top 25 advertisers in India as ranked by Tam are advertising on the Google Display Network. In the past year, advertiser spend on Google display in India has almost doubled. Display campaigns from Indian advertisers demonstrate what’s possible when the science of search meets the art of display – whether that‘s Airtel‘s YouTube contest to find India‘s biggest cricket fans or Nestle‘s YouTube promotion for Nescafe with Bollywood star Deepika Padukone.
“Globally, display is now a $2.5 billion business for Google. ‘Watch This Space’ is about the exciting changes taking place in the industry and the potential for display advertising to be a truly engaging, relevant, and measurable medium. We think there‘s enormous room not only to improve but also to grow the entire display advertising industry several orders of magnitude for the benefit of advertisers, agencies, and publishers,” adds Rao.
The campaign is created by Google’s Creative Lab and marketing team. It uses Google’s primary colour scheme with blue, yellow, red and green advertising spaces
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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.
