State of Online News Media

Sunil Saxena of New Indian Express has an interesting article on how the Indian online news media (like Rediff and Sify) has not created much of an impact so far:

The Indian advertiser has kept away from media sites. The advertiser realises that the largest chunk of traffic flows from Indians living abroad, but these Indians are not his customers. India Inc may be right. But in the process it has further hobbled innovation on the net.

The obsession with photographs has also created an aberration. Respectable media sites have started using half nude photographs of women to attract traffic. These photographs are mostly sourced from international photo services like AP, Reuters or AFP, and comprise of young women cat walking in western and Latin American countries. The booming fashion industry in India, and the Page 3 culture is another source of these photographs — a most unhealthy trend for any news site.

I don't think the Indian advertiser has totally stayed away from the media sites. IMO, ads by matrimonial sites are targetted at residents and non-residents. Ads by remittance services like ICICI Bank and Citibank are primarily targetted at the NRI community. Apart from these two prominent category of ads, there are other ads by sites offering to send gifts to people back home. These are also targetted at the expatriate community.