Indian News Site

This is another new category this year. And the ones who have
made it to the top are from the Times Group–timesofindia.com and
indiatimes.com. The topper is timesof india.com, indiatimes follows closely
behind with 92 points.

The results are really not surprising. The Times of India is
a national newspaper and enjoys wide readership. And the Website gives you
faster access to this information as and when the news breaks. The site also has
stock updates, and stories from its sister publication on finance, The Economic
Times. So this makes it a one-stop news site. Every edition of the newspaper
invites the reader to its Website so the awareness level about the site is also
very high.

Interestingly, Indiatimes.com is the portal from the Times
group, and not a news site. It does have news sections as well as an IT channel.
Perhaps this perception will change with its recent ad campaign calling it the
"I" in your Internet. The site gets a lot of publicity in the Times
newspapers, which highlight the variety of content the site has to offer.

The other sites that surfaced in the User’s Choice results
are indiainfo. com, indya.com, and rediff.com. But they have not made sufficient
impact as news sites to reach the Club. Regional news sites also haven’t made
an impact, nor have any of the newspapers that have presence in some cities.

A site to watch for in this category next year is go4i.com.
It’s being heavily advertised in the electronic media and through hoardings.
This site is by Hindustan Times though the ads don’t push this fact–they
focus on the site being a portal. But news is definitely one of their strong
points. Let’s see how they fare against the existing winners.