Applications
Internet advertising can scale upto $1 bn by 2014: Anandan
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The size of Internet advertising can scale up to $1 billion by 2014, said Google India vice president of India sales and operations Rajan Anandan at Goafest 2011. This, however, will continue to be miniscule compared to the total advertising spend of Rs 250 billion in the country.
At the end of 2010, there were over 100 million Internet users in India. And on an average, Anandan said, Indians spend 16 hours a week on the Internet—40 million access it from their homes, and nearly 30 million each from cyber cafés and workplace.
According to Anandan, display advertisement on the Internet will dominate the future, “Display advertisement will provide precise
measurement for advertisers across the Google display network including YouTube,” he said.
Anandan mentioned that advances in computing horsepower are making advertisers smarter and data analysis easier—and rich media content is making ads more attractive, “In the last four months, the content uploaded on YouTube is more than the content created by the US’ four largest broadcasters since 1948. YouTube has become the largest English channel in the country, with most of its subscribers being young,” he said.
Recalling the release of Dabangg, Anandan said: “The first sponsored movie ever to be released on YouTube received 1 million visitors in the first week alone.” Anandan also cited the example of an ad for IPL T20 by Airtel and YouTube, “The ad received 450000 visitors in the first week.”
Touching upon rich media, Anandan mentioned that mobile is the number one screen. He asserted that the number of mobile Internet users will reach 40 million by 2014 worldwide. Mobile Internet is just waiting to explode, he added.
Anandan claimed that display advertising-enabled advance buying will increase the nubers by 30 per cent and reduce costs by 70 per cent. “Audience buying through display ads is a mega-trend,” he said.
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.
