Google India's FY23 ad revenue jumps 12.49% to INR 28,040 crore

In the fiscal year 2023, Google India witnessed a 12.49% year-on-year growth in gross ad revenue, reaching INR 28,040 crore, further solidifying its position in the digital advertising sector. 

This substantial increase, attributed to platforms like Google Search, YouTube, and Chrome, follows an 80% surge in gross ad revenue in the previous fiscal year, soaring from INR 13,886 crore to INR 24,926 crore.

Google India's revenue streams are categorized into three segments. These include the resale of advertisement space, the sale of enterprise products, and the provision of IT and IT-enabled services to its group companies. 

While the FY23 operating revenue experienced a marginal 0.11% decline to INR 9,275 crore from INR 9,286 crore in FY22, the company strategically demerged its IT services business into the independent entity, Google IT Services India, last year. This move, approved by the National Company Law Tribunal in May, aimed to streamline operations and enable Google India to focus more on its core business divisions of advertising and enterprise.

The transfer of Google India's IT services business to Google IT Services India, effective from April 1, 2021, marked a step in this strategic realignment. Financial filings also reveal that Google India paid an equalisation levy of INR 1,543 crore to the government for the acquisition of online advertisement space from Google Asia Pacific. This transaction involved the purchase of ad inventory by Google India from Google Asia Pacific, which was then resold to advertisers within the country. In FY22, Google India paid INR 22,845 crore to Google Asia Pacific for ad inventory purchases.

The overall ad spend in India stood at INR 1,09,882 crore in 2023, as per a report by IPG Mediabrands-owned media investment firm Magna Global, which is up 11.8% compared to 2022, with digital ad spending growing by 14.2% to top INR 49,883 crore. In Q3 FY23, YouTube made $7.95 billion in ad revenue marking an increase of 12.5% from last year, contributing to Google’s total ad revenue of $59.6 billion.