Olympics to vaccination: Google India releases top search trends of 2021

Cricket, Tokyo Olympics, and Covid vaccination information were among the top searches on Google in 2021, Google India announced in its ‘Year in Search’ results, recapping the top search trends of 2021 in India. 

Cricket continued to top the charts this year, with the Indian Premier League and International Cricket Council T20 World Cup filling the top spots in the overall list of queries. Interest around football was also at a high, with the Euro Cup, and Copa America featuring on the list. 

Another high point of the year was the remarkable performance of the Indian sportspersons at the Tokyo Olympics. The commencement of the world’s largest vaccination drive in the world in India saw searches for COWIN portal and Covid vaccine trending massively as people sought information around the vaccinations options and their availability. 

Free Fire was the lone gaming entry that made it to the overall trending list, reflecting the massive popularity of the battle royale game.

Neeraj Chopra, with his history-making performance at the Tokyo Olympics, was the most searched celebrity, followed by Aryan Khan taking the second spot. 

Tesla founder and prolific social media personality Elon Musk’s also featured on the list, alongside celebrities such as Vicky Kaushal, Shehnaaz Gill, and Raj Kundra.

Google's "Near me" searches, which show places of interest near where a person is, saw searches on Covid vaccine, Covid tests, and Covid hospitals. Searches for oxygen cylinders and CT scans also witnessed a spike as people fought the tide of the pandemic over the course of the year. 

In addition, queries on food deliveries, tiffin services and takeout restaurants also surged with people looking to ride out the intermittent lockdowns.

2021 also witnessed strong interest in regional cinema, paving the way for Jai Bhim, a Tamil blockbuster securing the top spot on the Movies list, followed by Bollywood blockbuster Shershaah. 

Radhe and Bell Bottom were the other Hindi movies that surged on the trending charts. Highly anticipated Hollywood movies like Godzilla vs Kong and Eternals were also on the list of the top trending movies of this year.

Queries in the Recipes category saw the top slot occupied by Enoki mushrooms. People also searched for Porn Star Martini and lasagna. Recipes for modak and cookies, ‘Methi Matar Malai’ and ‘Palak’ also trended in top searches. Kada, the hot favorite immunity-boosting home remedy, also featured among the top recipes.

While News around Covid-19 continued to take the spotlight, there continued to be interest around key global events and topics such as the Tokyo Olympics, Black Fungus, Afghanistan, and the West Bengal elections. People actively searched for important and relevant information with queries like how to register for Covid vaccine, how to download vaccine certification, and how to increase oxygen level being the top three ‘How to’ searches this year. 

In ‘What is’ category searches, the queries ranged from what is Black Fungus, what is Taliban, what is remdesivir, and to the evidently academic what is the factorial of hundred?