Google India records 12.49 percent YoY Growth in ad revenues in FY23

Google India has clocked a 12.49 percent year-over-year surge in its gross advertising revenues for the fiscal year 2023 (FY23), reaching an impressive Rs 28,040 crore. This robust growth comes on the heels of an 80 percent upswing in FY22, propelling revenues from Rs 13,886 crore to Rs 24,926 crore.

Functioning within three primary sectors—resale of advertisement space, sale of enterprise products, and IT services—Google India experienced a marginal decline in operating revenue, inching down by 0.11 percent to Rs 9,275 crore in FY23 from Rs 9,286 crore in the preceding fiscal year.

The IT services segment underwent a strategic separation, resulting in the creation of Google IT Services India, an independent entity. This demerger, greenlit by the National Company Law Tribunal in May of the previous year and enacted from April 1, 2021, aims to sharpen Google India's focus on its core ventures of advertising and enterprise solutions.

Google India's business model centers around acquiring advertisement inventory from Google Asia Pacific and subsequently reselling it in the Indian market. For this operation, it incurred an equalisation levy amounting to Rs 1,543 crore in FY23. In comparison with its formidable rival, Facebook Online India Services—a division of Meta—reported a 13 percent growth in gross ad revenue, reaching Rs 18,308 crore for FY23.

The broader advertising expenditure in India for 2023 reached Rs 1,09,882 crore, marking an 11.8 percent escalation from the previous year. Digital ad spending witnessed a robust growth of 14.2 percent, reaching Rs 49,883 crore, underscoring the prominence of the digital domain. YouTube, boasting an extensive user base of 573 million, significantly contributes to Google India's advertising revenue, capturing a substantial audience and consequently attracting considerable ad spending in the digital marketplace.