EMERGING MARKETS
Mobile accessibility
Gourav Pilania tags the growth of all forms of digital gaming to mobile data prices becoming more affordable in India . In cable . co . uk ’ s global mobile data research in 2023 , India was listed as the seventh cheapest country in the world to use a mobile phone . On average a 1GB data plan costs $ 0.16 in India and $ 0.62in the UK , a figure that puts it in 52nd place .
“ The most crucial element in the growth of online gaming in recent years in India has been the widespread availability of affordable smartphones ,” says Pilania . “ In addition to the increasing accessibility of highspeed internet due to the rising graph of digital literacy among the entire spectrum of the population .”
Cultural shift
For the CEO of affiliate business Mediarun Digital , Aryman Raman , the biggest change he ’ s seen is a cultural shift among Indians .
“ The modernisation of the country has led to the acceptance of igaming , which is still largely a taboo ,” says Raman . “ Now the average Indian has been exposed to igaming from YouTube and social media influencers as well as looking at western entertainment more than ever before .”
This , the affiliate CEO believes , is also tied to an improvement in salary levels in the country . “ With an increased disposable income , Indians have been able to take risks experimenting with how to spend and how to enjoy their money .
“ There has also been an uptick in travel to Monaco , Las Vegas , Europe and Goa to play at landbased casinos from Indians .”
The modernisation of the country has led to the acceptance of igaming , which is still largely a taboo ”
ARYMAN RAMAN , CEO , MEDIARUN DIGITAL
80 %
Last year , 80 % of the entire onshore and offshore igaming market was accounted for by locally licensed lottery and rummy .
For Raman , entering the Indian igaming market took two and a half years of failure before getting things right . He emphasises the tough competitive market , where earlier in its journey international agencies understood and knew the industry , but now things have changed .
“ Now you see Indian brands are taking over and not only slowly dominating search rankings but also becoming fantastic in player acquisitions across different verticals including PPC , media buying , lead generation , messaging campaigns and social media .”
Buying into localisation
Yet , the biggest challenge Raman faced was localisation . Especially when it comes to language and content preference across the entire country .
“ India ’ s rich diversity means not everyone speaks English and users prefer content which is familiar and comfortable ,” says Raman . “ Then
there was the issue with spammy sites that seemed more interested in taking money than providing a real service .”
Mediarun Digital took its time to understand the players and what they were looking for in igaming . “ As we grew we understood that localisation is just not the language but also what users want to play . Horserace betting is popular in the Maharashtra and Bengal states , but not in Rajasthan , while football punters would be found more in Kerala than any others and Kabaddi needs more Hindi content over English .”
Yet , Deepanshul Rana believes with internet browser technology advancing with translation , language has become less of an issue for players to obtain the right information . “ If your content is relevant , then it doesn ’ t matter ,” he explains .
“ If you write it in English or Hindi , people will understand due to the translation services available especially on Chrome so it ’ s easier
42 • iGBAFFILIATE . COM