Justdial: Death By #KitKat?
Justdial (NSE:JUSTDIAL) makes its revenues from local businesses in India who advertise their services through JustDial’s voice-call driven business directory services. Apparently their revenues were ~22% of Google’s revenues in India last year. Users often find it convenient and accessible to call JustDial for contact info of a local business, rather than “Googling” for it. Plus there is the matter of having an updated directory from their “feet-on-street” operations.
I use a Nexus 4, which was updated to the latest OS version Android v4.4, codenamed KitKat. The new Phone application (dialer/contacts) on this update makes it ever so easy to find and call a business, as long as your device is connected to the internet. Just punch in the name of a service you are looking for, and you start seeing results from your city offering the service - as though they are on your phone book! Tap on a result to call.
Now, I find this convenient! A percentage of my searches on JustDial are going to move to Google. I might call sometimes since I expect the JustDial database to be fresh and more complete. Having worked on local business listings collection during my stint at Rediff.com, I can appreciate how JustDial might still have an edge. But I believe this update should be a very big deal for JustDial, and I see some others share the sentiment.
There is also another angle to local search, stemming from the hypothesis that its not just listings, but knowing what businesses are trusted by your friends that helps you make a wise decision. I can see Google’s “+1"s coming into play here at some point (maybe right within the dialer experience), and there are also interesting start-ups like Frilp that seem to be taking on this challenge.
The JustDial app feels too cumbersome when compared to the Google instant style experience (search as you type) provided on the Phone app. Neither has JustDial has done a great job of social yet - most people don’t have their social networks formed on JustDial. Two big problems for JustDial to figure out as more people come online from their mobile phones in India.
(Note: DBC/ "Death By Chocolate” is a popular ice cream sundae offered at the Corner House Ice Cream outlets in Bangalore).
What should JustDial do to avoid “Death By KitKat”?
[Image credit: Voice From Within blog]