A Google India report summarizing the top search trends in India for 2021 was released today by the company. The list reveals what Indians looked up the most in news, sports, entertainment, and other categories throughout the year.
The top five trending search topics on Google Search Trends in India in 2021 were ‘Indian Premier League,’ ‘CoWIN,’ ‘ICC T20 World Cup,’ ‘Euro Cup,’ and ‘Tokyo Olympics.’ Following the last COVID-19 outbreak in the country, many internet users turned to Google to look for COVID vaccines and hospitals. This year searches for ‘oxygen cylinders’ and ‘CT scans’ saw a spike in ‘near me’ searches as people looked for ways to combat the deadly virus. Similarly, Google searches for food deliveries, tiffin services, and takeout restaurants increased this year, according to the company.
Google’s Most Popular ‘How To’ And ‘What Is’ Queries
In April and May, India was hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19, which resulted in an increase in cases and deaths. The ‘How to’ section topped the search chart during the massive crisis, with queries like ‘How to increase oxygen level’, ‘How to make oxygen at home’, and ‘How to register for covid vaccine’. These are the year’s top three ‘how to’ searches.
‘What is Black Fungus?’ and ‘What is Remdesivir?’ was the most popular ‘what is’ searches. ‘What is Taliban?’ and ‘What is the factorial of hundred?’ ranked highly as well.
2021 Searches For “Near Me”
This year’s ‘near me’ searches were dominated by services related to the pandemic. While many people searched for vaccines, Covid tests, Covid hospitals, oxygen cylinders, and CT scans as they fought the second wave of COVID in the first half of the year, searches for vaccines, Covid tests, Covid hospitals, and searches for oxygen cylinders and CT scans also increased.
In addition, Google revealed that people looking for food deliveries, tiffin services, and takeout restaurants increased as a result of the intermittent lockdowns.
Aryan Khan and Neeraj Chopra: Two Of The Most Sought-After Celebrities
With his historic performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where he won independent India’s first-ever medal in athletics, Neeraj Chopra topped the list of most searched personalities. Following him was Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, who faced a major controversy in October after he was arrested by the NCB in connection with a suspected drug case on board the Cordelia cruise ship.
The list also included PV Sindhu and Bajrang Punia, two other 2020 Tokyo Olympic medalists. A few high-profile people topped the list, including Elon Musk, Shehnaaz Gill, and Raj Kundra.
Google’s Most Popular Movies Of The Year
Regional cinema piqued the interest of Google users in India this year, with Tamil drama film Jai Bhim topping the list, followed by Bollywood titles Shershaah, Radhe, and Bell Bottom. Godzilla vs Kong and Eternals, both from Hollywood, were among the year’s most popular films in the country.
Google’s Most Popular Recipes
Because people stayed at home for the first few months of the year, many of them appear to have used Google to find new recipes. ‘Enoki Mushrooms’ was the top-searched recipe on Google in India this year, though ‘Modak’ and ‘Cookies’ were also popular. The top recipes searched on Google this year included comfort foods like ‘Methi Matar Malai’ and ‘Palak,’ as well as immunity-boosting ‘Kada.’
Trending Sports Events On Google
The Indian Premier League, the ICC T20 World Cup, and the Euro Cup were the top three sports events searched on Google in India, according to Google. The Tokyo Olympics and the Copa America were the next events on the calendar.
Trending News Events on Google
This year, the Tokyo Olympics dominated the ‘news events’ category on Google in India. Black Fungus, Afghanistan news, West Bengal elections, and tropical cyclone Tauktae were the next items on the agenda.
Global Trends
Google also revealed the top search trends around the world, in addition to the top trends in India. The top search trend is ‘Australia vs India,’ followed by ‘India vs England,’ ‘IPL,’ ‘NBA,’ and ‘Euro 2021.’ These come from over 70 countries and include ‘Australia vs India,’ ‘India vs England,’ ‘IPL,’ ‘NBA,’ and ‘Euro 2021.’
It’s worth noting that Google’s Year in Search results for 2021 doesn’t directly suggest the most popular searches on its site. Instead, the company views the searches as “trending queries” that saw a significant increase in traffic over a “sustained period” in 2021 compared to 2020. The algorithm that compares the percentage increase in trending searches also takes into account a minimum threshold to keep very small search volumes off the list.
Last year, the top Google search queries were ‘coronavirus,’ ‘US election results,’ and ‘PM Kisan Yojana,’ but this year, the top trending query was ‘Indian Premier League,’ which surpassed all others.
