Indian businesses top in web 2.0 usage, says survey

MUMBAI: Eyeing incremental benefits at low costs, 75 per cent of the country's firms use web 2.0, taking India to the top of 17 developed and emerging nations where the interactive medium is used by businesses, according to a survey.

The reasons for taking to web 2.0 services, which encompasses popular websites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, are myriad - like performing IT functions, public relations, sales, marketing and customer service, the survey commissioned by anti-virus maker McAfee has found.

"In India, market pressure proved to be a big driver for firms to adopt web 2.0 in their businesses. Around 78 per cent of our respondents from India cited interaction with customers and partners as the primary reason for adoption," McAfee director, Channel and Alliances for South Asia, Ambarish Deshpande told reporters in Mumbai.

The global survey, conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne and US-based Purdue University's CERIAS research group, covered 17 countries.

Businesses in emerging economies like India and Brazil lead when it comes to adoption of web 2.0, while those in the US, UK, Australia and Canada are not so active on web 2.0, the survey said.