The audience rating of Google Nijeriya (http://www.google.com.ng/), the Hausa version of Google search is the focus of this paper. The website is rebranded Google Hausa here for easy reference. The rating occurred in six states of Northern Nigeria where Hausa is the main language besides English. Two criteria of rating were adopted. First, is the level of awareness of the site. Second is the satisfaction of audience’s expectation. The study was conducted twice, across Web-literate members of five age groups. The findings, which correlate, showed that awareness was low. The assessment of the satisfaction of expectations was below average. The shortage of Web contents in Hausa constituted a reason for the low patronage. Besides that, the original Google website, www.google.com, took the shine out of the Hausa version owing to the preponderance of English language. Google would need to strive hard to ensure that its Hausa version does not become a waste of Web resources.

Key Words: Google Hausa, Audience Awareness, Audience Expectations, Web Search

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 1, No. 2,  October  2009,  115 – 124.

About the author

Oladokun Omojola Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, South-West Nigeria.

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Article Citation

Omojola, O. (2009): Audience assessment of Google Hausa. Journal of Communication and Media Research 1(2): 115 – 124.