Google Zeitgeist 2012 unveils the spirit of Indian netizens
Google Zeitgeist 2012 unveils the spirit of Indian netizens
Indian Web Goes Utilitarian: Communication to Convenience
- From net banking to eCommerce: ‘convenience’ drove search for the connected India
- Entertainment and Education – emerged as trending searches for 2012
- Mobile searches grow as Indians look for information on the go
INDIA| December 18, 2012: Revealing the local flavours of internet search in the country, Google India today announced its annual Zeitgeist, a look at 2012 through the collective eyes of our nation on the web. Like every year, this year’s Zeitgeist also offers a unique perspective on the major events and hottest trends, based on searches conducted in India. Taking an interesting diversion from the results of 2011, which reflected the emphasis on people and event related searches, internet users in India have now started using the web for their personal needs – shopping, booking tickets, and making informed decisions for their offline purchases.
Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director – Sales and Operations, Google India, said, “Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist reflects data from 1.2 trillion searches in 146 languages globally. With 137 million users, India is the world’s third largest internet market and is a good barometer of trends in Indian society as a whole.”
“With growing smartphone adoption, mobile searches continued to grow with over 70 million mobile internet users. We expect India’s next 150–180 million Internet users will access the Internet through their mobile devices. This means that the information that these users will look for will need to be more local and meaningful as already reflected in the kind of search trends we’re seeing in the country,” he added.
Google’s Zeitgeist data shows that utilitarian services drove search volumes. With more institutions moving their services online for greater convenience, searches for them ticked upward accordingly. For instance, banks emerged as one of the most popular categories, with net banking being the most frequently searched query within the category.
An analysis of the top searched travel websites showed that while railways, airline tickets, and hotel booking sites were an obvious trend, a bus booking portal – redbus.in – featured at number 3 in the list, marking a new trend in how Indians prefer to travel.
Exams, traditionally pen-and-ink affairs, are also moving online as IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection), GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) came in at numbers 1, 2 and 6 in the top overall trending list respectively. This shows that young Indians are showing a great deal of interest in government jobs.
Another fascinating trend was the warming up of Indian netizens to e-commerce. There is definitely a positive shift in the user’s perception on purchasing gadgets, books, accessories and more online. While business brands rode on this trend, celebrities leveraged social media to build their ‘brands’ as well. Users searched for politicians and celebrities who were either present through their own social media channels or in news for their active online presence.
Zeitgeist’s India data also gave an interesting view of what is troubling Indian users – it seems like global economic turmoil kept Indians worried, with Sensex being the top searched event this year. Prominent deaths – including those of Vilasrao Deshmukh and Rajesh Khanna – made it to the list as well.
From an information perspective, education and examination related searches also drew consumers to use the web for search, with banking and engineering related aptitude examinations topping the trends list throughout the year. Overall, IGNOU was the most searched university across India.
Utilitarian web:
Top Trending searches
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India’s Top searched banks
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India’s top searched shopping websites:
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India’s Top Searched Actors – 2012
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India’s Top Searched Actresses – 2012
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India’s Top Searched Sports persons – 2012
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India’s Top Searched News – 2012
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India’s top searched travel sites
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India’s Top Searched Airline Brands – 2012
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India’s Top searched auto brands 1. Maruti Suzuki 2. Royal Enfield 3. Honda 4. Hero Honda 5. Bajaj |
Mobile lists
India’s Most Searched Terms – 2012
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India’s Most Searched Education Institutes – 2012
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India’s Most Searched Entertainment Terms – 2012
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What is Google’s Year-End Zeitgeist?
Google reveals the internet “Zeitgeist” (German for “the spirit of the times”) through an exploration of the over one trillion search queries we receive each year. In addition to the Year-end Zeitgeist, which highlights the top trends of 2012, we also have several tools that give insight into global, regional, past and present search trends. Google Zeitgeist tools can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur over time. These tools are available year-round for you to play with, explore, and learn from: google.com/zeitgeist
About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
For more information, please contact BM for Google India:
Rudra Bose| rudra.bose@bm.com| +91 9811626585
Vasundhara Mudgil| vasundhara.mudgil@bm.com| +91 9873550181
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