Global Marketing News – 4th September 2015
Landmark court case in China over right to be forgotten
A Chinese comedian is suing the Chinese search giant Baidu in an attempt to get a ruling similar to the European “right to be forgotten” law.
Deliang Xu is suing because a Baidu Baike entry about him allegedly contains incorrect, “defamatory” content. Baidu Baike is an online encyclopaedia similar to Wikipedia.
Xu wants Baidu to block the creation of any future Baidu Baike entry about him, arguing that as a public figure, having incorrect information online severely damages his reputation.
He also wants to be “unsearchable” on Baidu, arguing that Baidu is breaking the law as it does not have his consent to make money from his Baidu Baike entry.
He admits his case is in unchartered legal territory, commenting that: “We are arguing that a citizen has the right to disappear on one of the most popular Internet services. This has not been done before.”
Amazon launches Kindle Unlimited in India
Amazon has launched its Kindle Unlimited e-book service in India.
The subscription, which costs 99 rupees for the first month and 199 rupees for subsequent months (equivalent to 3 US dollars), allows Kindle users to download an unlimited number of e-books.
Amazon hopes it will help it to compete with its rival Flipkart, which currently dominates the Indian e-book and ecommerce market.
The Indian ecommerce market is worth 2 billion US dollars, with e-books making up around 2% of this, although this proportion is expected to increase as smartphones and tablets become cheaper.
Kindle Unlimited is now available in India, the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Brazil.
Mobile ecommerce growing 300% faster than desktop ecommerce
Research by Coupofy has revealed that mobile ecommerce is growing 300% faster than desktop ecommerce.
Coupofy, a coupons website, predicts that mobile ecommerce will grow by 42% between 2013 and 2016, substantially more than the 13% growth predicted on desktops over the same time period.
The growth is being seen strongest in China, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as developing South East Asian countries.
In terms of the amount of money spent, Apple users spend more Android users, tablet users spend more than smartphone users, and men spend more than women.
560 million people engaged in mobile commerce on Coupofy in 2014, spending 200 billion US dollars. This is expected to triple in the next 3 years to 600 billion US dollars.
40% of UAE residents shop online once a week
40% of UAE residents engage in online shopping at least once a week, according to research by Network International.
The most common things that residents used online payments for were sending money to their families abroad and paying bills.
Buying expensive items such as cars and property, paying school fees and ordering takeaways were also common activities.
Asian expats were the most likely to make online payments, followed by Emiratis, Arab expats and Western expats.
Age was also a factor, with people aged in their 30s being the most likely to buy online, followed by people aged 40, and people aged under 29 being the least likely to buy online.
Groupon leaves the Turkish market
And finally, the coupon and discounts company Groupon has left the Turkish market.
Groupon exited Turkey on 24th August after it failed to reach its “financial expectations” in the country, five years after it first entered the Turkish market.
Turkey’s internet penetration is slightly lower than other European countries, at around 60%, which perhaps contributed to Groupon’s lack of success in the country.
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Gemma Houghton
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