While 2012 inches closer to its end and we await the dawn of 2013, Google lets us have a walk down memory lane and reminisce about the year that was. Google has released its annual Zeitgeist report, revealing interests, passions and memorable moments in the past year seen through our searches. Zeitgeist literally means “the spirit of the times” and this spirit is determined through aggregation of billions of search queries Google gets every day.
Google’s Zeitgeist 2012 list for India reveals IBPS, Gate Exams, Sunny Leone and Ek Tha Tiger are among top five Google India searches during this year. The top 10 list also includes CBSE, Rajesh Khanna, Aakash Tablet, HDFC and Jabong.
Actress Sunny Leone tops the list of most searched people on Google India. Leone has been extensively covered by the Indian media, especially during the release of Jism 2 movie. Late actor Rajesh Khanna ranks second on the list. The legendary actor, also dubbed as the first superstar of Bollywood, passed away this year. The demise of the actor saw the entire country mourning with a lot of people searching for his old songs, interviews and movies on the web.
On the third position is Poonam Pandey, the controversial model who shot to fame during the 2011 World Cup when she announced she would strip for the Indian cricket team if they won the tournament. Pandey has been quite active on Twitter this year and made it to news often for her bold pics and statements. The list also includes the likes of Alia Bhatt, Nirmal Baba, Sherlyn Chopra, Yash Chopra, Saif Ali Khan, Diana Penty and Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger is the most searched movie in 2012 followed by Akshay Kumar’s Rowdy Rathore. The list also includes Jannat 2, Housefull 2, Raaz 3, Jism 2, Barfi, Ishaqzaade, Agent Vinod and Vicky Donor.
The top 10 searched travel destinations are Kerala, Taj Mahal, Wagah Border, Vaishno Devi, Amarnath, Kashmir, Shirdi, Rameshwaram Temple, Munnar and Gateway Of India. The top 10 searched Indian cities are Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Jaipur and Goa.
Google’s Zeitgeist list also includes what news were most searched this year. Sensex, Vilasrao Deshmukh Death, Hurricane Sandy, Anna Hazare and Assem Trivedi cartoons are top searched news terms n 2012. The list also includes Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kingfisher Airlines, Earthquake in Chennai, Pranab Mukharjee President and Rajesh Khanna Death.
Check out the entire list on Google’s Zeitgeist for India for the year 2012 click here. You can check out Google’s Zeitgeist for other nations here.