- Neighbourly is a local social network that aims to answer questions people often have about their immediate surroundings, such as where to find the best street food or a reliable car repair shop.
- The app will source its answers from other users, or “neighbours.”
- It has just been made available in India’s capital, New Delhi, and its tech hub, Bangalore.
- Google will unveil its ‘Neighbourly’ app, to five more Indian cities.
- People in Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Mysore, Vizag, and Kota, will now get access to the app.
- We know that most of life happens within 1 [kilometer, 0.6 miles] from home or work and that many information needs are local,”
- Neighbourly has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times since June, and Google said half a million people have joined a waiting list in cities where it isn’t yet available.
- Neighbourly works in English and eight Indian languages.
- It’s the tech giant’s latest effort to tap into India’s vast and fast-growing internet.
- There are just over 500 million people online in India, leaving nearly 900 million yet to get connected.
- Google has chosen India to launch several services and features in recent years, including an offline version of its video platform YouTube.
- Earlier this year, it began allowing Indian users to get bank loans through its digital payments app.
- For now, Neighbourly (spelled with a “u” the way Indians spell it), is not just “India-first,” it’s “India only.
- We are currently focused on expanding the app in India, and don’t have any immediate plans to roll this out to other markets,” said Google.