Google to expand Neighbourly app in India

Tech giant Google is planning to expand its Neighbourly app which helps people source local information from their neighbors.

Ben Fohner, Senior Product Manager, on Google's Next Billion Users team said, "We're committed to bringing the Internet alive for everyone in India, make it more useful for a billion Indians who speak in local Indian languages. We want to fill the hyper-local information gap that exists today and that's why we launched Neighbourly earlier this year."

He said "In our research, we've found that most of life happens within a 1km radius of where you live. We've also found that when finding local information, people prefer to ask or discuss with another person. Neighborly makes it easy to seek advice and recommendations from neighbors who know the area and have similar tastes. That's why we built Neighbourly, that's why people use it, and that's why we're so excited to make it available to everybody across India."

The Neighbourly app made inroads in popular neighborhoods in Mumbai first, followed by Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mysore, Vizag, Kochi, and Coimbatore.

Early learnings and user feedback from these markets led to helpful insights. Many people, for example, asked to be able to join different neighborhoods -- one where they live and one where they work.

Fohner informed Mumbai had seen questions about flooded areas during the heavy rains and finding the nearest Dahi Handi celebration, while Jaipur's student community asked questions around where to find accounts classes.

"Food is always a popular topic, with questions about the best late night restaurants or seeking for the best street food. Recommendations around popular shopping destinations also ranked high," he added.

The app supports eight Indian languages apart from English.