Gajraj Rao first discovers and then speaks for Google Voice Search

It is Google's second ad on 'voice' in less than two months; a sign that India's voice search market is heating up.

“Bolne se zindgai ki gaadi aage badti hai? Sahi hai,” says Gajraj Rao, actor and ad director. He stars in a new Google India ad directed by Anaam Mishra that promotes the tech giant’s voice search offering on smartphones.

A 60-second ad by Lowe Lintas, Rao first sees his driver use Google’s voice search feature to ask about the "IAS exam". Rao, who's dozing in the car at that time assumes the question was for him... Once he realises the driver was asking Google, we see Rao make others (his daughter, wife, and even a cleaner outside his home) use it to get his questions answered.

It’s an interesting time to be in the Indian voice search market.

“From voice-assistant-enabled feature phones to connected devices like Alexa and Google Home, the ecosystem is taking an encouraging turn, and thus, opening up much more avenues for brands and businesses,” said a February 2020 report from dentsu India’s digital agency WATConsult. It was called ‘Voice Technology in India: Now and Future - Consumer and business perspective’.

The report stated the speech and voice recognition technology market is to grow from Rs 149.95 Cr as of December 2019 to reach Rs 210.63 Cr by the end of 2020 at a rate of 40.47 per cent.

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While the ad starring Rao was for the voice search feature on Android-powered phones, Google, recently released an ad for its Nest Mini, a voice-enabled smart assistant. Even Amazon has run its ads for its voice-enabled assistant Alexa once again.

And in October, Apple at an event launched the HomePod Mini that it says, “offers a great music listening experience, an intelligent assistant and smart home capabilities, with built-in privacy and security, in a beautiful compact design." It also helps you take care of everyday tasks with Siri.

The future belongs to the voices.