Google Year In Search 2022: These Were The Top Searches In India This Year

Google has released its “Year In Search 2022” report that features things that created a buzz this year and were searched most on the platform. The list, which is released annually for various countries, shows a noticeable shift in search trends in India. This year, people googled more about entertainment, games and other topics rather than coronavirus-related queries that dominated the trending search list in 2021.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) topped the overall 2022 trending search results in India and was also the most searched sports event in the country. It was followed by CoWIN, a government web portal that facilitates registrations and appointments for COVID-19 vaccines and issues digital vaccine certificates.

The third most searched trending topic in India was the FIFA World Cup, which kicked off on November 20 in Qatar. The fourth and fifth positions too were occupied by sports events namely the Asia Cup and ICC Men's T20 World Cup, respectively. Bollywood blockbuster Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva secured the sixth rank while KGF: Chapter 2 was ranked ninth on the list.

The “near me” Google searches reflected how Indians reacted to dropping COVID-19 cases and relaxation of restrictions. Both in 2021 and 2022, “Covid vaccine near me” featured at the top of the list. However, this year, the most “near me” searches included “swimming pool near me”, “water park near me”, “movies near me” and other topics related to travel and outings. This was in contrast to last year's searches that included “COVID test near me”, “Oxygen cylinder near me”, and “COVID hospital near me”.

In 2022, Indians appeared more curious about the newly introduced Agneepath scheme for defence aspirants, NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and NFT (non-fungible token) while ‘What is black fungus' was the most searched query last year.

The most searched personalities in India in 2022 included suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who bagged the first spot. She was followed by President of India Droupadi Murmu, new United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Lalit Modi.