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We've recently seen massive furore over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Prior to this, Jammu & Kashmir and NRC created quite a stir. But for average Indians, who are always up for discussing cricket and politics whether at tea stalls or living-rooms, what made them go look up certain events or places on Google in the past year?
As per Google’s list on the most searched content in India in 2019, we assessed what 50-60 crore Indians think about the most, besides gauging their likes and dislikes.
Based on various newspapers and TV news channels, crime and politics have emerged as hot topics in India. However, when one looks at the overall category of Google searches, one can see Indians looked up cricket world cup in 2019.
Even though Lok Sabha elections were the most discussed in 2019, they still rank second. ISRO'S Chandrayaan-2 Mission which gripped the nation and the world's attention, was placed third in the overall category.
While watching prime time shows on news channels, it makes you think there’s chaos in the country, the public is still more interested in films. In the overall top 10 search of 2019, films are trending in 4 positions . ‘Kabir Singh’ is in the fourth position, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is in fifth, ‘Joker’ is in eighth and ‘Captain Marvel’ is in ninth position.
Modi And Salman: Not In The Top 10 Personality List
From news channels to front pages of newspapers, one can see Modi everywhere. But, it's interesting that among the top 10 list of personalities searched on the Internet, Modi's name appears nowhere.
In first place we have the man who returned from Pakistan to India after a brave dogfight – Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Meanwhile, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan did not make it to the list, while Vicky Kaushal known for his famous ‘How's the Josh’ dialogue, features in it.
And we have Himesh Reshammiya’s favourite singer Ranu Mondal in the list whose life story and song you may have heard. She ranks seventh in the list of personalities most searched.
What Did The Indians Learn?
It seems as though the awareness campaign on Lok Sabha Elections and Election Commission is bearing fruit. People are keen to know about voting because three related topics are trending in the 'how to' section.
In the first place we have ‘how to vote’, which means people want to understand how to cast votes. In the third place we have ‘how to check name in voter list’. In the ninth place we have ‘how to know polling booth’.
The second question in this list may have spammed your phone inbox: How to link your PAN With Aadhaar. This list also has a question that troubles all of us during Holi. In the sixth place is ‘how to remove Holi colour’. And in seventh place we have the game that became an overnight sensation – ‘how to play PUBG’.
It is interesting to see how 'near me' category is being used. One would generally think this section is used to find restaurants and garment shops, however, Google’s trend list is proving the assumption wrong. Dance classes have been the most searched topic in 2019 in this section!
If one has to analyse the Google trend search list looking at the top searches it is clear, though there is lot of chaos and violence in the world of news netizens prefer discussing sports, dance and films over politics.
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