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Here’s some interesting data on search trends for group SMS and microblogging services in India using Google Insights for Search data for 2008.

All four services — SMSGupShup, Twitter, Vakow and Google SMS Channel — show a rising trend. SMSGupShup is far ahead of the others, Twitter is second and Vakow and Google SMS Channel are still to become popular. It’s interesting to note that Twitter overtook SMSGupShup in serach volumes during November, due to the interest in the #mumbai Twitterstream for the 11/26 Mumbai terror attck.

The data is consistent with Alexa traffic data for India which ranks SMSGupShup at #429, Twitter at #549, and Vakow at #4205.

What’s even more interesting is the state-wise interest in the four services. Interest in Google SMS Channel is limited to NCR and interest in Vakow is limited to NCR and Maharashtra. Interest in Twitter has spread beyond NCR and Maharashtra to Karnataka and Tamilnadu and interest for SMSGupShup has spread beyond these four states to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. There seems to be a clear diffusion pattern for these group SMS services in India: NCR to Maharashtra to Karnataka/ Tamilnadu to Gujarat, then elsewhere. Also, none of these services seem to be particularly popular in North and East India.

Vakow! front page

Vakow! user page

Vakow! is a new Indian web 2.0 startup for people who “luv SMS Forwards”. Basically, Vakao! lets you post SMSes from web or mobile; tag, rate, comment on and share SMSes with your friends; and subscribe to users or tags to receive SMSes.

While I’m not a huge fan of SMS forwards, I know a lot of (mostly) young people who are. Therefore, Vakow! looks like it is ‘lowest common denominator’ enough to appeal to young people in a way that, let’s say, user generated content won’t. Vakow!’s user interface is also quite cool and, therefore, likely to appeal to the young audience it is targeting.

Valow! is the brainchild of two twenty-something youngsters Rahul and Amit who were amongst the earliest employees at Webaroo.

The duo will most probably try to monetize Vakow! through advertising and content syndication. If Vakow! scales up well, content syndication will be easy and I can even see youth oriented marketers wanting to advertise on Vakow!. What’s more, I can totally see Vakow! as a popular app for the Indian community on The Facebook or the OpenSocial platform.  Read More