eMarketer released a report on the state of online marketing in Canada this month and it made me wonder about the state of the online economy in Clicks2customers’ home country, South Africa. Why? Because a few weeks ago Google arrived in South Africa. This probably doesn’t really impress the seasoned online marketers in more developed countries. But down here, it is a big thing. And Google seems to be very serious about the South African online market.

At first sight it doesn’t make sense though, Canada has a population roughly two thirds the size of South Africa’s, broadband penetration is 60% and 63% of its people use the internet. And yet according to eMarketer, online marketing in Canada has struggled to take off.

In comparison, according to a local study, only 1.5% of South Africa’s population has access to broadband and an additional 6.5% connect via other means. More shockingly, the projected growth in internet usage for 2007 is a paltry 3%.

So why has Google set up shop in the country? Surely they will go after the ‘traditional’ online marketing budgets for paid search and adsense but I am convinced Google is also using South Africa as an experimental playground for their mobile strategy.

Cellphone penetration in the country this year reached 70%, as high as in the US. But unlike in the US, for many South Africans a cellphone is their only gateway to the internet. This provides Google with a user base that is comfortable with the mobile experience and does not have pc-based online habits (habits that would be tough to alter in seasoned broadband users) .

Having seen a demo of Google’s Android platform, I think it has the potential to create an online revolution in our country by making iPhone-like features available to a wide (and hopefully cheaper) range of handsets. And don’t forget, economically and demographically, South Africa is often compared with other developing countries such as India and Brazil. If Google manages to crack the South African mobile market, they probably breeze into other developing countries too, giving them prime access to more than a billion mobile users.

I don’t believe Google is in South Africa for philanthropic reasons, they are here to make money. And they might just strike it big…