Yahoo teams up to drive internet shopping in India

Rediff.com will power the Yahoo India shopping channel, while Yahoo India will showcase its content -- including ringtones, polyphonic tunes, wallpapers and java -- on Rediff.com. According to the agreement, Rediff.com users will be able to download content from Yahoo India. In addition, Yahoo shoppers will now have access to the Rediff marketplace, which has over 100 shops across 30 product categories. "It's the Indian net user who will gain from the combined synergies," said Neville Taraporewalla, country manager, Yahoo India. Though 'netizens' will definitely benefit from the alliance, analysts feel the tie-up is driven more by e-commerce revenue considera- tions than any synergies offered to the advertiser. "Each will continue to concentrate on their strength areas -- mobile and shopping, while at the same time opening themselves up to a larger traffic flow for these services. However the tie-up currently seems to cover only these services and does not immediately include any advertising options or packages," said MV Rajesh, director of Group M's mOne Worldwide.