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Google Search Trends in India for 2021: Indian Premier League, CoWIN Among The Top Results.

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.

Team YTS

End of an Era

The notice said that users could add new content up to Oct. 28. Following this, on Dec.14, all content will be wiped for good. Therefore, the company has given users time till 14th to back-up their data, and save what they have uploaded. Everything from files, photos, links and polls to attachments will be cleared off the site.

What will remain is the option for users to communicate with their group members through email. However, the website will continue to live but all groups will be private and admins will only have access to limited settings and functions. Yahoo did not clarify why Groups was shutting down. Groups had always been an extension of real-life communities, helping to bring people together across various common interests and friends. The notice also has a link explaining how to save user data. But before that, what exactly was Yahoo Groups?

History of Yahoo Groups

Launched in 2001, Yahoo Groups came when the dotcom boom was at its peak and during its heyday had millions of users. The online discussion portal faced severe competition from the rise of social media sites such as Facebook and Reddit. As people switched to other such platforms, Groups fell behind and was left with a few loyalists. So much so that, several groups on the website have not been upgraded in years! While certain forums on the website are new, it does not provide the kind of interface that Facebook or Instagram does, and hence struggled to retain users.

Rise of Yahoo Groups

Yahoo Groups was once a very popular forum which helped people with common interests connect for almost two decades. At the height of its popularity, that is during 2010, Yahoo Groups boasted of over 115 million active users. To help people build and maintain virtual relationships, the website had over 10 million groups.

Due to a large number of users, Yahoo had enough power to make over 100 carriers and mobile manufacturers pre-install their apps on new devices. To keep Facebook at bay, Yahoo promoted new and unique features such as subgroups, and private chats. But despite their best efforts, Yahoo was fighting a losing battle. With Instagram exploding around that time, users quickly migrated to rival platforms. Hence, it is safe to the say that the shutdown as imminent, being a long time coming!

How to Save Files

To save their data, Yahoo users can download it from their Privacy Dashboard. The notice also links to a Yahoo web-page that explains how to download your data and save it. However, the process is quite cumbersome as you have to individually download each file or photo. Users also have the option of requesting a complete download to the company. This request will take up to 30 days to process, and the download will be available only after that. Afterwards, the group will have only basic communication features. Functions such as attaching photos, polls, links and calendar will be lost forever.

Takeover and Promises

Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017 in a deal that was worth $4.48 billion and created Verizon Media. Verizon Media too failed to compete against Google and Facebook and is being forced to cut their budget and staff. Strangely enough, the notice regarding Yahoo Groups went away quietly, only being mentioned in small support documents. However, as a sign of good faith, Jason Scott from The Internet Archive has promised to save as much content as possible. So maybe it might not all be lost forever.

Yahoo had previously removed their application GeoCities, taking with it 7 million websites. Digital archivists tried then as well to save whatever they could. Also, before that, they had winded up their Maps site in 2015, and their messenger last year! Sadly, each shut down such as this leads to the erasing of internet history, making it a pivotal moment. While many of you might not have used it in its full capacity, you might have been part of a fan club or movie club. Make sure you do visit one last time before Yahoo effectively erases that part of your childhood.

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

End of an Era

History of Yahoo Groups

Rise of Yahoo Groups

How to Save Files

Takeover and Promises

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