It’s a mixed bag of good news, bad news, and just plain “news” news for Google in India this week.  One piece from the region describes the company’s expansion in glowing terms; another reports that its site ranked low in terms of usability.  Lastly, there’s a new man in place to deal with all this: Shailesh Rao was appointed managing director of sales and operations for Google India.

Shailesh seems happy with his new job; in fact, he is “extremely pleased and privileged to have the opportunity to take on this new role,” according to an interview with the EFYtimes.  “The region is experiencing a tremendous amount of growth,” Shailesh observed, “and I am excited that I can help in making an impact.”

That comment leads us neatly into a report compiled by Surajeet Das Gupta and Priyanka Joshi.  While the pair had little to say about Google’s past accomplishments, they seemed extremely impressed with its impending deeds.  From customized content to mobile services to licensing partnerships, all sorts of things are working their way through the R&D pipeline.

Those upgrades may be badly needed, though, judging from a ZDNet Asia article.  In a study on usability, “the search giant could only muster a place in JuxtConsult’s Just About Satisfactory category,” which would seem to leave a lot of room for improvement.  At least Google can take comfort that in the fact that it was judged “the most heavily utilized English-language search engine in India.”

And if misery (or embarrassment, anyway) loves company, the Mountain View-based corporation will be pleased to see that its competitor Yahoo received a “Just About Satisfactory” rating, as well.

Tags: Google, India