Rediff + Yahoo > Indiatimes?

Two of India’s leading Internet portals Rediff.com and Yahoo! India have
inked a strategic pact to jointly promote online shopping and mobile content
across both the portals. Under the terms of the agreement, Rediff.com will power
the Yahoo! India shopping channel while Yahoo! India will showcase their prime
content like ringtones, polyphonic tunes, wallpapers and java games among others
on the Rediff.com website, where Rediff.com users shall be able to download this
content through the Yahoo! India shortcode: 8243. This content will be in
addition to Rediff Mobile premium content currently available on the Rediff
shortcode 7333.

Rediff.com and Yahoo! India have been two of the very few to have survived
the Indian dotcom bloodbath. According to most industry experts, this was
possible because both the portals were smart enough to realize in time that
their business model should envisage much beyond a simple online mode of
delivery. Over time, Rediff.com has been able to successfully monetize its
strength in consumer e-commerce, while Yahoo! India reveled in its ability to
deliver innovative mobile content. The result is that today both of them command
over 30 million registered users in India. Taken in this light, the current
association would enable both players to successfully leverage the strengths of
each other to reach out to a far wider audience.

The synergy between the two works out seamlessly by the fact that Yahoo!
shoppers will now have access to the Rediff Marketplace which has over 100 shops
across 30 product categories reaching across to 800 locations in India. The
alliance also makes sound business sense as it would allow them to take on
Indiatimes head on.

Rajneesh De in Mumbai