A Year in Search: Google India’s Top Searches of 2010 – Google Zeitgeist 2010’

•    ‘Why be in line when you can be online’ is the mantra as IRCTC tops  the chart this year
•    Kites emerge as the most searched movie
•    Nokia retains the most searched brand online tag with Samsung following closely and Micromax mobiles make their debut
•    One billion and we still ask How to get pregnant? -  Most asked question online
•    British actress Aruna Shields and Bollywood’s new sensation Sonakshi Sinha emerge as the fastest rising people on Internet

We’re here! We’re back! And we bring you the year that was, through top searches that defined India’s preferences in 2010. The year- end Google India Zeitgeist- a listing of the top Google searches done by Indian netizens in 2010- throws up a panorama of  events, moments and trends that shaped our lives this year.“Google Zeitgeist 2010 is a real reflection of the spirit of the nation. It offers a unique perspective on the year’s major events and hottest trends based on searches that Indians did online.” said Vinay Goel, Head of Products, Google India.

For starters, IRCTC continues to top the charts of the year-on-year fastest rising bracket, while some of the newer entries this year are the Micromax and Samsung mobiles- giving an indication of how central the mobile phone has become for people in today’s world.

Netizens continue to be movie buffs with Kites, Endhiran and Dabangg topping the charts in the most popular movie bracket, this year. Amongst the fastest rising category, British actress Aruna Shields emerges on top followed by Sonakshi Sinha, who made her film debut this year. Some of the other favorites from Bollywood this year include Katrina Kaif and Zarine Khan, while amongst the men, Salman Khan ruled the web.

Music soothes souls clearly! More and more people are turning to the World Wide Web for music as ‘songs’ featured as the most popular searched term this year. Entertainment is not the only thing ruling netizens’ minds this year as sports continues to be a favourite. FIFA World Cup not only grabbed the real world’s attention, but of the virtual world too! Social networking continues to connect many as Facebook, Orkut and YouTube remain in the Top 10 list of the most popular searches.

And Internet is the new ‘counsellor’! Many turned to the Internet with queries such as ‘How to get Pregnant’, ‘How to Kiss’ and ‘How to impress a girl’.

While putting together the lists, Google studied the¬ aggregation of billions of queries people typed into Google search in 2010 to compile the Google India Zeitgeist 2010. We used data from multiple sources, including Insights for Search, Google Trends and internal data tools to compile the same. We also filtered out spam and repeat queries to build out lists that best reflect “the spirit of the times.” All of the search queries we studied are anonymous – no personal information was used. Except where noted, all of these search terms are most popular for 2010 – ranked in order of the queries with the largest volume of searches this year. In some cases, we list the “fastest rising” queries, which means we found the most popular searches conducted in 2010 and then ranked them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2009.

Zeitgeist Explained

Google reveals the internet “Zeitgeist” (German for “the spirit of the times”) through an exploration of the billions of search queries we receive every year. In addition to the year-end Zeitgeist, which highlights the top trends of 2009, 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: www.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.
Media Contacts:

Gaurav Bhaskar
Google Corporate Communication Manager
[email protected]

Sheetal Singh
20:20 Media
[email protected]

I. 2010 India Zeitgeist lists
Fastest rising
1.    IRCTC login
2.    Micromax mobile
3.    YouTube Videos
4.    FIFA
5.    Facebook
6.    Cricket live score
7.    Indian Railways
8.    Twitter
9.    way2sms
10.    Samsung Mobile

*Inferences
- ‘Why be in line when you can be online’ is the mantra as IRCTC tops the chart this year
- Micromax marks an entry this year as netizens are increasingly searching for it
- FIFA trips cricket

Most popular
1.    Songs
2.    Facebook
3.    Google
4.    YouTube
5.    Yahoo mail
6.    Gmail
7.    Yahoo
8.    Nokia
9.    Orkut
10.    IRCTC

*Inferences
- Let the music play is the mantra of Indians
- Social networking continues to connect people online

Most popular movies
1.    Kites
2.    Endhiran
3.    Dabangg
4.    3 Idiots
5.    Harry Potter
6.    Ravaan
7.    Veer
8.    My Name is Khan
9.    Twilight
10.    Rajneeti

*Inferences
- Kites fly high on the Internet
- Khans still popular on and off screen
- Robots new chemistry with the Internet
Popular Brands
1.    Nokia
2.    Samsung
3.    Airtel
4.    Micromax
5.    Dell
6.    Maruti
7.    Vodafone
8.    Apple
9.    Sony Ericsson
10.    HP

*Inferences
- Mobile phones catch the fancy of Indians – mobile brands rule the net
Popular How to list
1.    How to get pregnant
2.    How to kiss
3.    How to impress a girl
4.    How to improve spoken english
5.    How to reduce weight
6.    How to gain weight
7.    How to tie a tie
8.    How to create a website
9.    How to make money
10.    How to meditate

*Inferences
- Net turns the ‘Friend’ for many as netizens ask: How to get pregnant, how to kiss, how to impress a girl
- Many search for how to go the family way as love continues to remain in the air
- Google plays the teacher as netizens search for improving English
- In health, loss is more profitable than gains
- Rather than ‘money hai to honey hai’, netizens believe in ‘honey hai toh money hai’
Fastest rising People – Top people
1.    Aruna Shields
2.    Sonakshi Sinha
3.    Zarine Khan
4.    Lalit Modi
5.    Neha Sharma
6.    Shakira
7.    Katrina Kaif
8.    Sachin Tendulkar
9.    Lady Gaga
10.    Salman Khan

*Inferences

- British actor Aruna Sheilds features at the top with her Indian debut in Prince
- Bollywood’s new sensation Sonakshi Sinha tops the charts
- Shakira shakes a leg at #6