New Delhi, Aug 8:
In India, education has always been a top priority and how! Today the
country ranks second in terms of the number of education-related
searches on Google, just after US, a study released by Google India
said.
However, though according to the study 60 per cent of the students use
the Internet to decide their educational moves, it looks like the
providers are not on the same page.
Rajan Anandan, Vice-President and Managing Director of Google India,
said, “Students are making a large part of their decision based on
information available on the Internet when it comes to the type of
education they are going to pursue and where they’ll pursue it.”
However, he added that the digital medium sees only 5 per cent of the
total advertising spends from the private education sector, which was at
Rs 1,500 crore last year.
“If 60 per cent of the students are online and their decision-making is
being influenced by the Internet, we think the providers have a long way
to catch up with the user,” Anandan said.
According to the Web-giant, more than half the 120 million Internet
users in the country are in the 18-35-years age bracket. And, the number
of educational queries is seeing a year-on-year growth of 46 per cent.
The ‘Students on the Web’ report, compiled by combining Google search
query patterns and offline research conducted among 2,229 respondents in
the age-group of 18-35 years in seven metro cities by TNS Australia,
found that online sources effect the final educational decisions taken
by five out six students.
Further, according to the report, fees is the least important criteria
for students while selecting an institute of higher education. Instead,
placements are the top priority followed by faculty and course content.
Almost 70 per cent students also trust results shown by search engines
as they find it more credible thanks to the availability of a large
number of user reviews online, Anandan said.
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