Yahoo celebrates election fever with new website

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Yahoo India, the leading Internet company, announced on Tuesday that it has launched a new site Elections.Yahoo.in for 2009 general elections.

As India gears up for its biggest parliamentary elections this summer, Yahoo! India’s elections site aims at creating an involved and an informed voter, said a press release.

With various political parties and leaders already using the Internet as a medium to reach out to voters, these elections are also about catering to a large online audience.

“The Internet has emerged as a pervasive medium and is playing a significant role in shaping the way people collaborate and interact on topics that matter such as general elections,” said Gopal Krishna, VP - Emerging Markets and acting country head, Yahoo! India.

He further added that Yahoo! India, through its special elections microsite, is providing users with a platform to participate in shaping the future of the world’s largest democracy.

Apart from being able to view the latest news updates, the elections site will let users share their opinions and updates on various leaders and constituencies during elections, thus help in making an informed choice.

In order to cater to a large section of youth, several of whom could be voting for the first time, the special elections site also focuses on educating them on the importance of casting their votes.

Updates on election schedules, expert analysis, online polls, discussion forums, opinions and photos would be some of the other key features on the site.

As the site evolves, Yahoo! India would also include features like Manifesto Comparisons (a user can compare manifestos of various political parties) as well as comic strips on various news and updates during the tenure of the elections, said the release.

With most advertisements keeping elections as a base for showcasing their products of late, Yahoo! India offers advertisers a highly interactive medium to engage consumers through this special elections site.

According to Pearl Uppal, director, Sales, Yahoo! India, “Political parties and advertisers have come of age and are now actively looking at the digital medium to reach the youth audience."

She further said that they have been approached by leading political parties and agencies that have shown keen interest in advertising on Yahoo! to communicate with a highly engaged audience on the Yahoo! network.

Recently a Mumbai-based media company called Insite Digital had launched a website called Indiavoting.com to create awareness among India's young generation through online games.