In India, Facebook Uses Google AdWords To Leapfrog Orkut

Different territories demand different marketing approaches. Google, for instance, has been spotted taking the unusual route of promoting their search engine and Chrome browser with print advertising campaigns in India and The Netherlands, respectively.

And now a reader informs us that Facebook is buying Google ads on the search giant’s India portal (Google.co.in). You can see some examples embedded in this post or on our tipster’s blog.

It’s impossible to determine if this is new, but perhaps Indian TechCrunch readers can tell us if these just started popping up or if they’ve been running for a while. I’ve been trying out searches for people on a couple of other country portals but haven’t seen any Google AdWords campaigns from Facebook at first glance. We’ve contacted Facebook for more information.

Facebook, Orkut and the caste system

MUMBAI, India — A man who goes by “hemant” types out a question: "Are you embarrassed that you are from the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes?"

One by one, members of the online community of SC and ST, which compose the lowest castes and groups in India, begin responding:

“Rajni”: “No my dear i never felt ashamed due to my caste.”

“Mr”: “When I was an innocent school-going boy, I feel embarrassed to reveal my caste due to discrimination and my helplessness, later during my college days I started coming out of the closet and was very aggressive to those who criticize me.”

O(u)rkut really!

Hey... how come you are not on Orkut?” a friend asked me anxiously a few years ago when the Orkut fever was just seeping in the virtual world and I wasn’t aware of its hysteria yet. “What’s that?” I asked in return. The expression of sheer disbelief on his face after hearing my question forced me to check out what Orkut was all about. Once I did, I got hooked on to it too, just like the others. But my excitement and addiction died down just as fast it had developed. Getting in touch with long-lost friends, seeing a new scrap in your scrapbook everyday from someone or the other, receiving flattering testimonials from friends — all the thrills and frills overtook one aspect: lack of privacy. ‘Accessibility of your info to one and all’ was what made me go off Orkut and I am not the only one.

Fans Corner: East Bengal Community On Orkut

Firstly we caught up with Kallol Das, who is one of the moderators of the community 'East Bengal the Real Power'. Kallol is 29 years old and is a businessman by profession but he spends most of his time by doing something or the other related to his favorite club East Bengal.

Goal.com: What has been the main reason for East Bengal's turnaround this season?

Kallol: There are many reasons but if I have to choose one I would say that the players have adapted well to De Ridder’s tactics, which they were not able to do unfortunately under Subhas Bhowmick. There is a lot of team spirit in the squad which is very important for a successful team.

Google Orkut Vulnerability Patched

Google Orkut Vulnerability Patched


Google has fixed a cross-site scripting vulnerability in Google Orkut a security researcher said could be used to steal cookies and other information.

Nir Goldshlager, who also recently uncovered vulnerabilities affecting Google Calendar and Twitter, told eWEEK the problem was due to an input validation error.