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MagicBricks October 29, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Real Estate , add a comment

MagicBricks is the online real-estate portal of Indiatimes, which is run by one of the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in India, The Times Group.

So it’s got some heavy backing- which probably explains plenty of content, television advertising and some nifty functionality like GPS based mobile application that allow users to search for real estate listings on the move. But for all that money, it’s got a very average looking website and a pathetic logo. The whole interface is a mix of different fonts, member company logos, and awfully crowded text.

Nevertheless, in a market with billions of potential users I guess content is king, not presentation. At least for now. Overall, if you need to get some rich content for Indian real-estate, take two aspirins and head to MagicBricks.

SecondShaadi October 23, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Matrimony , 1 comment so far

Another matrimonial site claiming the “Number 1.” crown in an immodest way. This one may actually be right about it, though. SecondShaadi is a matrimonial portal for people trying their luck for the second time. Since I’ve not yet found another company advertising in this niche, I think the tagline “No. 1 Re-Marriage site for Indians” can be sustained.  (Clap Clap Clap)

SecondShaadi was started by Vivek Pahwa and Ankur Warikoo, graduates from the Indian School of Business. The design is above-average for an Indian site- they had my vote as soon as I saw a ‘How it works’ link on the homepage. Basic membership is free, as usual, and they charge premium membership for sending private messages and offer one-on-one counseling. Heck, with divorce rate rising consistently just like inflation, these guys may actually have a shot at a sustainable business model.

PositiveSaathi October 23, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Matrimony , add a comment

An interesting twist to the overcrowded group online-matrimonial sites for Indians. PositiveSaathi is a matrimonial portal dedicated to HIV+ people. The site has more than just matrimonial functionality- there are HIV related educational material and information about NGO and government initiatives.

Latest numbers estimate 2.5 million HIV+ people living in India. I think its a great way to connect people with similar profiles, and make a difference in their lives. Much better than Kayastha2Kayastha type attempts, for sure.

IDontWantDowry October 23, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Matrimony , 2comments

Social activism gets technology backing with IDontWantDowry. Its a matrimonial website run by NGKOnline as a forum for wannabe brides and grooms who are against taking/giving dowry.

The site design is below-average, but I’m not going to take it apart. I like the concept- its a far more noble commercial use of internet’s power of connecting people. There is free registration with a paid membership (Rs.500 for 6 months).I couldn’t find what exactly was the benefit of a paid membership, though (again, folks- remember to make a “How it works” page!). Content-wise there are a surprising number of brides and grooms registered, with a heavy influence from southern India.

Digg copycats: Indian news ranking sites October 16, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : News , add a comment

Here is another list-it-in-one-post-cuz-there-are-too-many-out-there type review. Just like the Youtube copycats post that is an ongoing list of all Indian video sharing half-baked startups, this post is about collecting Digg copycats.

I feel like one of the weirdos who like to collect AOL mail CD’s, but must admit that its fun to see this list grow. Its yet another proof of the rising, rash entrepreneurship spirit in Indian online market today. Lots of money floating around, no time to sit and think, just copy the next western web 2.0 concept and roll out a desi version. ‘Copycats’ focused posts like these are going to be a trend at eIndia, I can foresee that.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Indians are continuing to give compliments to Kevin Rose, thanks to open-source software like pligg. So here is the list of Indian websites that have been shaped after Digg, with almost mind-numbing similarity:

Needless to say, I’ve spent zero time browsing each site in detail. So if you are a founder/fan of any of the sites above and think that there is a brilliant business model that differentiates it from Digg, let me know. Additions to the list are welcome, as always.

BlogAdda October 16, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Blogs, Technology , add a comment

BlogAdda was started on Aug. 15, 2007 by Nettalk as a one-stop resource for Indian blogs. Bloggers can list their blogs here and prospective readers can discover them based on tags, read the latest posts and rate them.

Indian blogs may eventually need a content-aggregators like BlogAdda, but I’m not sure if the compelling need exists today. The vast majority of Indian blogs are individual efforts, with no regular updates and minimal reader-base (yeah, I know…eIndia falls into the same categoryemoticon_waii.png). I’m unclear as to how BlogAdda would make money while the market matures in terms of demand. BlogAdda claims more than 600 users and 200 blogs listed as of September 2007.

The site is good-looking, and has a prudent “Beta” sign up. The content is not much at present, compared to the other alternative Indian-blog/blogger directories like Labnol’s India Blogs 1.0, BlogStreet, Indian Blogger List, DesiBlogs or Technorati’s India Blogs.

QCIN.org October 8, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Governmental , add a comment

The website of Quality Council of India (QCI) may not mean much to most of the folks reading eIndia, but I simply couldn’t resist writing about it.

If you ever needed an example of what-not-to-do when designing a website, look at theirs. The homepage is a horrendous collection of scrolling/blinking/pulsating images everywhere. If you stare at it for more than few seconds, it feels like watching a swarm of bugs in frenzy. Even the top navigation bar is blinking!! Geez.

In case you are curious, QCI is an independent organization that guides and operates accreditation activities through some executive committees. Needless to say, I didnt have a heart to explore the site beyond its homepage. I was afraid to click anything on the site really.

YouTube copycats: Indian video sharing sites October 3, 2007

Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Video Sharing , 7comments

Here is a thought: I think there are more people trying to start a video-sharing website than the people actually submitting videos. And where better to achieve this glorious distinction than our own motherland, brimming with starry-eyed internet entrepreneurs.

Now that you can purchase an off-the-shelf script to jump start a YouTube-clone website for only 10$ (If you think I’m kidding, check out vShare.in), there is a rapidly growing pile of indistinguishable Indian video-sharing sites. Being a fearless internet-warrior, I thought I’ll review all of them (how many could there be?) but was soon overwhelmed by the stampede of half-baked sites. Some of them are going down (and then coming back up again) so fast that I don’t think its useful to waste any reviews on them yet. Hence I thought of another solution- I’ll maintain a list of them here, and assume by default that every site on this list is not going to survive. If time says otherwise, I’ll move them off the list and give them a new, independent review.

In general, all these sites have unoriginal content (hacked movie clips, serials etc). The user interface is almost identical (thanks to 10$ scripts from vShare.in), user base is insignificant and there is no business model except site advertising.Bell Icon A word of caution- some of these sites are replete with adult content haphazardly thrown here and there. So don’t explore if you cant handle it!

Of course, there may be a chance that I’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater here. So if you think any of these sites deserves a better treatment, let me know. Feel free to send in additions to this list too.

Asterisk Icon Note: Some well-deserving websites have been purposely omitted in the list above because I had already spent precious time giving them independent reviews before getting overwhelmed. Check them out on the eIndia ‘Lists’ page (’Video Sharing Sites’ subsection).

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