Google urges Pinoy businesses to go online
MANILA — Fifty million Filipinos or half of the Philippine population.
That's the expected number of Internet users in the country this year, based on estimates by Google, up from 47 million at the start of the year.
Google expects the number to even climb above 50 by year-end.
Google vice president and managing director for Southeast Asia Rajan Anandan, who is in Manila, said Filipino businesses should now go online, if they want more brand exposure, and of course, profits.
"On the Internet versus SME not on the Internet, the one on Internet grows 50 percent faster. Imagine what this will do to the Philippine economy," he said.
A Google study showed what Filipino smartphone users are searching online:
* 67% product or service information; * 53% travel; * 49% restaurant and bars; * 51% job offers; * 38% housing.
Another study by WeAreSocial reveals Filipinos spend 6 hours a day online, the longest among Southeast Asian netizens.
Time spent on the internet per day (through laptop/desktop):
* Philippines 6.3 hours * Thailand 5.5 hours * Vietnam 5.2 hours * Indonesia 5.1 hours * Malaysia 5.1 hours
Restaurant and ice cream businesswoman Edy Gamboa Liu is not taking any chances, as she joins the online bandwagon.
She noted "likes" and "shares" on social media eventually translate to revenues.
"We didn't advertise it in the store or anywhere else except in social media, and we got very good response," she said.
The micro and small entrepreneurs group Ka Entrep also shared this sentiment, saying the Internet is a big help for small businesses, which may not have any budget for marketing.
The group, however, says the challenge now is that some Filipino entrepreneurs are still not tech- savvy.
"It's low cost; promotion is quick. But unfortunately, a lot of micro entrepreneurs really don't know how to use a computer... There are good products out there made by micro entrepreneurs, but the products are not promoted and can't be access by the public," Liberty Espiritu of Ka Entrep said.
Google forecasts 10 million more Filipino users in the months to come, but it also sees the slow and expensive Internet as a major constraint.
"If you ask me, I close my eyes, wake up in Makati, affordable broadband, if you have 4G affordable rate, that would change everything," Anandan said.
And truly, it would change everything. If only.