Yahoo! Examines India Portal Idea.

The Internet_s largest portal with 40 million viewers a month, Yahoo! Inc is reportedly in talks with Indian companies for alliances or tie-ups to source its software and back-up requirements. Though there are no official statements in this regard from the company in question, market sources indicate a serious overture being made by Yahoo! to gain entry into India.There are several factors that are taken into consideration before entering into a new market--Internet, PC penetration, online advertising market, potential growth of Internet usage and so on. Currently, Yahoo serves users in India off the Yahoo! Asia site as well as through the main Yahoo! site. They do not have a stand alone site for India. Once the alliances materialize, Yahoo! India will be part of Yahoo! Inc_s 18 international Web properties outside the US. Top sources in Indian information technology companies said talks on Yahoo! Inc_s entry into India are still at a nascent stage and studies on market potential are being worked out. The sources said that among the few in the race for emerging partnerships is an IT and entertainment company headquartered in New Delhi. According to a leading IT entrepreneur, familiar with plans of Yahoo!, critical to the firm_s entry would be forecast and estimates of Internet business and growth of e-commerce in India. Since there is no independent agency like Forrester Research that makes forecasts or surveys markets for Internet penetration, online advertising and revenues, the market research could take longer than necessary. Entrants into India will have to depend a lot on guess estimates, which could be damaging, she added. Yahoo! already operates localized web properties in the region of Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China. Other parts of Asia are served by Yahoo! Asia.