Info Edge (India), the company behind Naukri.com, increased its advertising expenditure by 6.5% year over year to ₹115.33 crore in the second quarter of FY2026–27. The spending highlights the company’s continued investment in marketing as it competes across online recruitment, real estate listings, matchmaking and education services.
The increase comes amid mixed performance across Info Edge’s business portfolio. Its standalone billings grew 12.8% year over year in Q2 FY27, supported by recruitment and real estate, while Shiksha faced pressure from declining traffic and changing search behavior. The advertising figures offer a useful view of the company’s marketing investment, although they do not independently establish how much additional revenue the spending generated.
Key Takeaways
- Advertising spending: Info Edge’s Q2 advertising expenditure rose 6.5% year over year to ₹115.33 crore.
- Previous-year comparison: The reported growth implies spending of approximately ₹108.29 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
- Billings growth: Standalone billings increased 12.8% to ₹822.3 crore in Q2 FY27.
- Business performance: Recruitment Solutions and 99acres recorded double-digit billing growth, while Shiksha’s billings declined.
- Latest financial results: Info Edge reported Q2 revenue of approximately ₹842 crore, up 12.9% year over year, according to its results coverage.
- Key question: Whether higher marketing expenditure translates into stronger customer acquisition, revenue and profitability over time.
Info Edge Q2 Advertising Spending: The Numbers
The company’s advertising expenditure reached ₹115.33 crore in the July–September 2026 quarter, marking a 6.5% increase compared with the year-ago period.
| Metric | Q2 FY27 | Q2 FY26, implied | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising expenditure | ₹115.33 crore | Approximately ₹108.29 crore | +6.5% |
| Absolute increase | Approximately ₹7.04 crore | — | — |
<text color=”secondary” size=”sm”>Source: Storyboard18. The prior-year figure and absolute increase are calculated from the reported spending and growth rate, so they are approximate.</text>
The increase means Info Edge spent roughly ₹7 crore more on advertising than in the same quarter a year earlier. While this is a relatively small portion of the company’s overall business activity, advertising can play an important role in maintaining brand visibility, attracting users and acquiring business customers.
The reported figure should be understood as advertising expenditure, not advertising revenue. It also does not, by itself, reveal how the money was divided among Naukri.com, 99acres, Jeevansathi, Shiksha or other brands.
Why Advertising Matters for Info Edge
Info Edge operates several digital platforms that depend on attracting users and converting their activity into paying customers. Its businesses operate in different markets, but each faces competition for attention, traffic and customer spending.
Naukri.com and recruitment services: The company’s recruitment business connects employers with job seekers. Marketing can help attract job seekers, maintain brand awareness and encourage employers to purchase recruitment products and services.
99acres: The real estate platform connects property buyers, renters, owners and brokers. Advertising can help the company attract property seekers and encourage real estate professionals to use paid listings and related services.
Jeevansathi and Aisle: These matchmaking platforms operate in a competitive market in which user acquisition and engagement can influence growth. Advertising may help bring new users onto their platforms.
Shiksha: The education platform provides information to students researching courses and institutions. However, Info Edge has identified AI-powered search as a challenge because search engines increasingly answer questions directly, potentially reducing referral traffic to the website.
The company has not provided a brand-by-brand advertising breakdown in the figures cited here. It would therefore be premature to attribute the increase to a particular platform or marketing campaign.
How the Advertising Increase Compares With Business Growth
Info Edge’s second-quarter operating update reported standalone billings of ₹822.3 crore, up 12.8% from ₹729 crore a year earlier. Billings represent amounts invoiced to customers and should not be treated as identical to recognized revenue.
| Business segment | Q2 FY27 billings | Q2 FY26 billings | Year-over-year growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruitment Solutions | ₹613.8 crore | ₹545.0 crore | 12.6% |
| 99acres | ₹148.3 crore | ₹122.4 crore | 21.2% |
| Jeevansathi | ₹39.7 crore | ₹33.5 crore | 18.4% |
| Shiksha | ₹20.5 crore | ₹28.1 crore | -27.2% |
| Info Edge standalone total | ₹822.3 crore | ₹729.0 crore | 12.8% |
Source: Info Edge’s Q2 FY27 operating update, reported by Business Standard.
The figures show that growth varied significantly across the company’s portfolio. Recruitment Solutions remained the largest contributor, while 99acres delivered faster growth. Jeevansathi also expanded, whereas Shiksha recorded a substantial decline in billings.
This mix matters when assessing marketing spending. Higher advertising expenditure may support growth in some businesses, while others may require a different strategy because of structural changes in user behavior or competition.
Recruitment and Real Estate Remain Important Growth Drivers
Recruitment Solutions generated ₹613.8 crore in billings during Q2 FY27, an increase of 12.6% year over year. Info Edge said the timing of customer renewals affected quarterly comparisons and estimated that underlying recruitment billing growth was approximately 14%–15% after adjusting for these timing differences.
The company also reported that its business-to-business AI products, including AI-Rex and Talent Pulse, continued to gain customers and contribute revenue. This suggests that its recruitment business is developing products beyond traditional job listings.
Meanwhile, 99acres recorded 21.2% billing growth to ₹148.3 crore. Its stronger growth compared with the previous year suggests continued demand for its real estate services, although billing growth alone does not establish how much was driven by advertising.
The combination of these businesses provides context for Info Edge’s marketing investment. The company has multiple avenues for growth, but it must ensure that additional spending supports customer acquisition and retention efficiently.
Shiksha Faces Pressure From AI-Powered Search
Shiksha’s billings fell 27.2% year over year to ₹20.5 crore in Q2 FY27. Info Edge attributed pressure on the platform’s traffic and billings partly to AI-driven search experiences that answer users’ questions directly, reducing the number of visitors who click through to its website.
This creates a different challenge from ordinary competition for advertising visibility. Even when a website invests in marketing and content, changes in how users discover information can reduce traffic and affect the commercial value of that investment.
Info Edge has said it is adapting Shiksha’s business model and introducing new offerings to reduce dependence on search referrals. The company expects this transition to take time, meaning the education business could remain under pressure in the interim.
The contrast between Shiksha and the company’s faster-growing segments demonstrates why overall advertising expenditure should be considered alongside segment-level performance.
What the Latest Quarterly Results Show
Info Edge’s Q2 FY27 results coverage reported revenue of approximately ₹842 crore, representing year-over-year growth of 12.9%. Its EBITDA increased 27.4% to approximately ₹377 crore, while the EBITDA margin expanded to 44.8%.
Net profit was reported at approximately ₹333.8 crore, sharply lower than the year-ago figure because the previous year’s quarter included a large exceptional gain. The profit comparison therefore needs to be interpreted in the context of that one-off item rather than as a simple measure of the company’s underlying operating performance.
These results suggest that revenue growth and operating profitability improved even as advertising expenditure increased. However, the available figures do not isolate the effect of advertising on those outcomes. Changes in pricing, customer renewals, segment mix and operating costs may also have contributed.
The Bigger Picture
Info Edge’s 6.5% increase in advertising expenditure reflects the ongoing importance of customer acquisition and brand visibility in India’s digital services market. The company operates in categories where businesses compete not only through product features but also through the ability to attract users, maintain engagement and convert activity into paid services.
The next important question is whether marketing expenditure continues to grow alongside business performance. Faster billing growth than advertising growth can be encouraging, but the two measures cover different activities and cannot establish marketing efficiency on their own. Investors and industry observers will need to monitor customer acquisition, revenue growth, margins and performance across individual business segments to judge the effectiveness of the company’s spending.
FAQs
1. How much did Info Edge spend on advertising in Q2 FY27?
Info Edge’s advertising expenditure rose 6.5% year over year to ₹115.33 crore in the July–September 2026 quarter.
2. How much did Info Edge spend on advertising in Q2 FY26?
Based on the reported 6.5% increase, the previous-year expenditure was approximately ₹108.29 crore. This is a calculated estimate rather than a separately verified figure.
3. Which businesses does Info Edge operate?
Info Edge operates Naukri.com and other recruitment services, real estate platform 99acres, matchmaking platforms Jeevansathi and Aisle, and education platform Shiksha, among other investments and businesses.
4. How did Info Edge’s Q2 FY27 billings perform?
Standalone billings rose 12.8% year over year to ₹822.3 crore. Recruitment Solutions grew 12.6%, 99acres grew 21.2%, Jeevansathi grew 18.4%, and Shiksha declined 27.2%.
5. Does higher advertising expenditure mean Info Edge will earn more revenue?
Not necessarily. Advertising can help attract customers and increase brand awareness, but its financial impact depends on conversion rates, customer retention, competition and the performance of individual businesses. The spending increase alone does not prove that advertising generated additional revenue.
Looking Ahead
Info Edge’s future performance will depend on its ability to maintain growth in recruitment and real estate while addressing challenges in education and other businesses. Marketing expenditure will remain one factor to monitor, particularly if the company continues to invest in user acquisition and new products across its platforms.
For investors, the key question is not simply whether advertising spending rises, but whether the company can translate that investment into sustainable revenue growth and healthy operating margins. Future quarterly disclosures on segment performance, marketing costs and profitability should provide a clearer picture of how effectively Info Edge is allocating its resources.
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