India’s gaming goes global: Google Play’s Swamy | Bira 91 to sell assets, clear dues | Auto retail up 21% on festive, GST 2.0 boost
Storyboard18 brings you top five news updates from the world of advertising, marketing, and business of brands.
ADVERTISEMENT
Storyboard18 presents FAST FIVE ⬇
We bring you top five news updates from the world of advertising, marketing, and business of brands.
‘India’s gaming ambition is global now,’ says Aditya Swamy of Google Play
As India’s gaming industry gathers momentum, Google Play is positioning itself at the heart of the country’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem. Aditya Swamy, Managing Director for Google Play in India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, believes the next phase of growth will see Indian developers transition from domestic success stories to global powerhouses.
Speaking on the sidelines of the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC), Swamy said the scale and ambition of the ecosystem have grown remarkably. “It’s great to see the scale at which this is growing,” he noted. “Two things stand out — how developers in India can become a global force, and how technology, especially AI, can help accelerate that journey.”
Bira 91’s Ankur Jain plans asset sale to clear pending salaries, PF dues amid mounting debt
Craft beer maker B9 Beverages, the parent company of Bira 91, is planning to sell one of its assets to raise immediate funds and clear pending employee dues. Founder Ankur Jain reportedly informed employees on Thursday that a buyer has been identified and that the proposal has been shared with key lenders and shareholders for approval.
“We have sent the proposal to key lenders and shareholders yesterday... and are hopeful of timely consent,” Jain said in a letter to employees.
ShareChat's Manohar Singh Charan on why homegrown platforms need a UPI-style ecosystem push to break global monopolies
ShareChat is one of the few players that has actually survived that pressure. It has built across more than twenty languages, found strong organic demand in Bharat, and recently declared its core business financially self sustained. It is an example of a homegrown platform that has put in the ten years of grinding technology work and now sits at a scale where policy, ecosystem and user support can meaningfully change the trajectory.
In an interview with Storyboard18, Manohar Singh Charan, Co-Founder & CFO, ShareChat & Moj discusses the importance for India to build successful homegrown social media platforms, systematic challenges, and more.
India’s auto retail hits record highs with 21% festive season surge, powered by GST 2.0 reforms and rural demand
Automobile retail sales across the domestic market witnessed a 21% year-on-year increase in the 42-day festive season, led by record registrations of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, aided by the GST rejig-enabled drop in prices across segments, dealer' body FADA said on Friday.
Overall retail sales rose to 52,38,401 units in the festive period this year as compared with 43,25,632 units in the same period last year, registering an increase of 21%.
Meta reportedly earns $16 billion from scam ads
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reportedly estimated that around 10% of its annual revenue — nearly $16 billion last year — came from scam advertisements across its platforms, according to documents accessed by Reuters.
The internal files suggest that for over three years, Meta failed to adequately protect users from ads promoting illegal gambling, investment fraud, and banned medical products. Many of these ads posed as legitimate offers while attempting to extract money or personal information from unsuspecting users.
Catch Storyboard18’s top stories, features, videos and more from the brand marketing ecosystem and subscribe to our newsletter for all the insights, news, views and analyses.
