Telcos can compete with Google & Meta with first-party data: Ananda Rao, Infomo

India is at the cusp of digital advertising. With over Rs 50,000 crore at stake, the country has attracted a large number of ad-tech companies from across the globe. One among them is Singapore-based Infomo, though their business model is slightly different from others. They are eying the first-party data of Indian telecom companies, a goldmine for advertisers, which has remained unharvested so far.

With smartphone users being their primary target, Infomo joined hands with Vodafone Idea about five months ago. “We already have access to the first-party data of 240 million Vi users. We are in talks with another telecom operator as well. If the deal materializes, our database will grow many-fold,” said Ananda Rao, Managing Director and Group CEO of Infomo.

India has an estimated 700 million smartphone users. Rao asserts, "With huge first-party data, telcos can easily compete with Google and Facebook."
Infomo is the only company in the world which utilises telecom data for digital advertising, says Rao, who is forging partnerships with telecom majors across the world to expand his database ahead of the cookieless world.

The ad-tech firm, which has been operating in India for a couple of years with offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, has a development centre in Dehradun that employs nearly 120 people.

According to Rao, the privacy-compliant telco-based platform is poised to emerge as a great digital advertising platform (SSPs and DSPs) in the cookieless world.

To woo small advertisers to its platform, the company is even planning to launch an Infomo payment card.

Melbourne-based Rao, who hails from Bangalore, is shifting his base to Singapore with a massive global expansion plan. He has already hired ex-dentsu executive Himanka Das as the India Head.

Excerpts:

There are several SSPs and DSPs available to the advertisers. Why should one choose Infomo?
The Infomo ecosystem is driven by the richness of telco data. For advertisers and publishers, we also provide ID and first-party data solutions. Specifically, from an advertiser’s perspective, we have created an AI/ML-driven automated solution to optimize media buying for search, social and programmatic, which brings efficiency, reduces wastage, and manages knowledge.

How big is the Indian Ad Tech market at present? How much potential is there for Infomo?
The digital ad tech market in India is estimated to be Rs 40,000 crore. About 80% of it goes to Google and Facebook, as budgeted spend; Rs 8,000 crore is what is left for everyone else.

Our solutions are designed to not just compete in the open internet but also the telco-data that can be used to extract intent and engagement. As a result, we will be looking forward to competing with search (Google) and social (FB) as well.

You have collaborated with Vodafone Idea. Have you approached public sector operators like BSNL and MTNL as well?
We started with the government sector only with BSNL. Meanwhile, we got associated with Vi which is working well. In February, our solutions with Vodafone received 11.2 billion ad requests. We tested it to a full scale. Now, we are working with 10 telecom careers globally, including an Indian one.

Who are your clients and how does your business model work?
We partner with telcos to monetise their data on a revenue-share basis and with news publishers to monetise their content. Our customers fall into three buckets - large agencies, brands and SMEs sector including small entrepreneurs.

From $100 ad, about $20-30 go to telcos for the data cost and about $70-80 is shared with publishers.

We make 25-30 per cent of each dollar spent. Google makes 60 to 70 per cent of each ad dollar.

Can you share your current revenue figures in India and targets for FY24?
At present, our business in India is roughly USD 500,000 a quarter. We hope to take it up to $2-3 million per month by the second quarter of 2024, considering our deal with another telco materializes.

How different is the Indian ad tech market from other global markets in terms of acceptance of technology and availability of tech infrastructure and data privacy?
India is leading the world in terms of accepting innovative technologies, as evidenced by the consumer payment space. The technology infrastructure in India is no different from other countries, as the communication standards (GSM, 4/5G) are the same, and have common communication hardware (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, etc.) Privacy laws in India are becoming more stringent and prescriptive. It used to be more open for interpretation in the past. This new more prescriptive environment works in our favour.
Telcos have phenomenally rich data but they have much more stringent compliance for data privacy than apps and other media platforms have. Telecom operators keep users' IDs hidden. All we get is various cohorts of consumers based on their characteristics (choices and online behaviour). There is no personalized targeting as cookies do. Our compliance book for India is about 60 pages.

Globally, the ad-tech industry is growing and programmatic ad spends are rising. However, global economic constraints have made the advertising and media industry conscious. What is the outlook for FY24?
As budgets tighten, the search for efficient solutions will increase. Hence at the large agency or brand level Infomo Agency Trading Desk will optimize media buying.
Further, the telco-based national ecosystem also provides the SME sector an opportunity to leverage digital marketing fully and to expand beyond their current spending in search and social into the open internet, which is far more cost-effective.

From TorqAi to Vodafone Idea to KPMG, you have been on an acquisition and alliance spree in India. What next?
We are competing against companies like Google and Facebook, and we need technology far more sophisticated to make a mark, so we are always on the lookout for technologies and business opportunities that will enable us to deliver super value.

Acquisitions and alliances are not limited to just India. We are scouting the world.