YouTube becomes the fastest rising search term in 2008; Orkut and Gmail remain the most popular networking and communication properties for Indian users; Katrina Kaif is the most searched person in India; Cricket, always a favourite has become even more popular this year; Indians are beating long queues at the Railway station by going online

India|December'2008: Google announced its India Zeitgeist, a look at 2008 through the collective eyes of the Indian users on the web. The 2008 year-end India Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted by users in India.

“The year-end provides an opportunity to take stock of our lives and those of others, look at what made news through the year and browsing the Google India Zeitgeist lists is especially interesting as these provide a refreshing perspective on the year gone by and an insight into emerging trends. Different people find different things to do on the web, so these lists are a good representation of the unique ways in which Indian users mine the Internet. Given the popularity of mobiles, this year we also looked at what people searched for while on the move through their mobile phones.” said Vinay Goel, Head of Products, Google India.

While developing the 2008 report, Google analyzed various aspects of the search queries to understand what was on the minds of Internet users in India. We retrieved the most frequently-searched terms for the period across many categories like Bollywood Celebrities, Holiday destinations etc. In addition we also looked at the top 10 fastest rising search words in India. This was done by reviewing several thousands of 2008's most popular searches and ranking them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2007. Taken together, we believe that all these lists define the true Zeitgeist or the "spirit of the times." In addition, for the first time this year we are offering a unique insight into the mobile web, by including the top queries searched for on the mobile.

Hope you enjoy reading and analyzing these interesting and fun results.

I. 2008 India Zeitgeist lists

A. Fast- Rising Searches in 2008

1. youtube

2. orkut

3. Katrina Kaif

4. cricket

5. IRCTC

6. facebook

7. Genelia d'souza

8. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

9. sixth pay commission

10. IPL

· YouTube becomes the fastest rising search term in 2008.

· Katrina Kaif is the most searched person in India.

· Increased attention around the sixth pay commission.

B. Most Popular Searches in 2008

1. Orkut

2. Gmail

3. Yahoo

4. Google

5. Youtube

6. Yahoomail

7. Indian railways

8. Rediff

9. Cricket

10. Katrina Kaif

• Social networking is the most popular way of connecting with people, even more than email.
• The Indian railways website sees huge traffic showing Indian users would rather go online than stand in long queues at railway stations.

C. Most Popular Mobile Queries For 2008

1.Orkut

2.Yahoo

3.Waptrick

4.Gmail

5.Games

6.Katrina Kaif

7.Rediffmail

8.Yahoomail

9.Namitha

10.Google

· Mobile optimized websites like Waptrick and mobile games are becoming very popular.

· Orkut and Gmail remain the most popular networking and communication properties for Indian users.

· Presence of three email services on this list shows increasing adoption of Internet on mobile. People are using their mobiles to email, to check cricket scores, latest news and to know more about Bollywood celebrities!

II. Category Lists

Most Popular Bollywood Celebrities

1.Katrina Kaif

2.Aishwarya Rai

3.Salman Khan

4.Hrithik Roshan

5.Kareena Kapoor

6. Shahid Kapur

7.Deepika Padukone

8.Shahrukh Khan

9.Mallika Sherawat

10.Genelia D'souza

· Actresses hold the spotlight this year. The interest around Katrina, Aishwarya and Salman is still going strong.

· Shahid makes his debut on our list, while Salman Khan maintains his ‘online’ popularity over King Khan.

Top 10 “How to” do stuff

1.How to reduce weight

2.How to kiss

3.How to earn money

4.How to get pregnant

5.How to learn English

6.How to gain weight

7.How to play guitar

8.How to create a website

9.How to impress a girl

10.How to tie a tie

· The Internet seems to be the one stop shop for all your needs, with Beauty, Love and Money - in that order, 'weighting' on our minds!

Most Popular Sports stars

1. Sania Mirza

2. Sachin Tendulkar

3. Cristiano Ronaldo

4. John Cena

5. Dhoni

6. David Beckham

7. Brett Lee

8. Khali

9. Kaka

10. Roger Federer

· Tennis star Sania Mirza tops the list showing that cricket is not our only passion!

Most Popular Politicians

1. Mahatma Gandhi

2. Raj Thackeray

3. Sarah Palin

4. Sonia Gandhi

5. Barack Obama

6. Indira Gandhi

7. Rahul Gandhi

8. Abdul Kalam

9. Manmohan Singh

10. Mayawati

· 3 Gandhis on this list, showing that ‘Gandhigiri’ rules Indian minds.

· American politics seems to have found its way east with Sarah Palin more ‘searched’ than Obama!

Most Popular Movies

1. Jodha Akbar

2. Dasavatharam

3. Singh Is King

4. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

5. Jannat

6. Tashan

7. Ganesha

8. Fashion

9. Rock On

10. Race

· Bollywood is the king in India! It’s interesting to see that audience interest is going beyond song and dance sequences.

· Noteworthy is the # 2 slot retained by Tamil cinema.

Most Popular Holiday Destinations

1. Goa

2. Kerala

3. Kashmir

4. Dubai

5. Singapore

6. Australia

7. London

8. Shimla

9. Switzerland

10. Manali

· Goa becomes everyone’s favorite destination.

· Like last year foreign destinations are just as popular this year.

Most Popular “days”

1.Independence Day

2.Valentine's Day

3.Friendship Day

4.Teacher's Day

5.Earth Day

6.Republic Day

7.Mothers Day

8.Women's Day

9.Father’s Day

10.World Environment Day

· National pride and love for India is still the strongest.

· India with all its festivals still finds time for all these days showing marketers that their work is paying off!

Most Popular Government websites

1.indianrail.gov.in

2.cbseresults.nic.in

3.incometaxindia.gov.in

4.mca.gov.in

5.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

6.passport.nic.in

7.tn.gov.in

8.cbse.nic.in

9. sebi.gov.in

10. indiapost.gov.in

Reachout's News Bureau
 December' 2008