As we bid farewell to the year and anticipate the onset of 2018, it’s that time to dwell on the year’s biggest interests, sporting events, and the flurry of questions that reflected the aspirations, thoughts and imagination of India’s online millions -- presenting our 2017 Year in Search recap.
This year, Bollywood and Cricket continued to remain the top two themes that ruled the charts. After breaking several records at box offices, India’s most expensive movie also broke language boundaries, attracting huge search interest from movie buffs across the nation: It’s no surprise that the blockbuster movie ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ topped Google’s trending searches charts this year. This was followed by searches around the Indian Premier League and ‘Live Cricket Score’, highlighting India’s never-failing love for Cricket and making these phrases the second- and third-most trending search queries respectively. Also making it to the Top 10 list were Bollywood blockbusters Dangal and Badrinath Ki Dulhania.
From firing up emotions to getting a groove on, Bollywood songs kept the tempo high on Search. Among the top trending songs this year, Hawa Hawa from the Arjun Kapoor starrer Mubarakan crowned the charts, followed by sufi track Mere Rashke Qamar originally sung by legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and recreated by vocalist Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The prevalent interest in Western music was well established with the latin hit Despacito and Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You featuring among the top trending tracks.
Sunny Leone once again featured among the top entertainers this year followed by Big Boss entrant Arshi Khan, Sapna Choudhary and YouTube singing sensation Vidya Vox. The glamor of B-town dominated the rest of the list with names like Disha Patani, Sunil Grover, and Rana Daggubati.
Google’s Year in Search 2017 also reflected the year’s top news moments that captured India’s attention: CBSE results, UP elections, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Budget featured among the trending news events. Indians were also on point with the rest of the world when it came to knowing more about Bitcoin prices or expressing interest about ransomware. Then, of course, there was India’s historic win at the Miss World ceremony, which catapulted Manushi Chhillar to international fame.
Among the top ‘What is’ queries this year, GST, Bitcoin, Jallikattu and BS3 vehicle remained the most trending themes. And mirroring millions of real-world needs and concerns, the how-to set of queries saw users seeking answers to a range of subjects from ‘How to link aadhaar with PAN card’ to How to buy a Jio phone to even How to remove Holi color from the face!
View the complete 2017 India-specific lists and global trends in detail; and dive into over a thousand global top-ten lists across pop culture, sports, music, politics, news, and more, from more than 75 countries.
Meanwhile, search on!