Yahoo India announces trends before and after lockdown
A lot can change in a month. No one knows this better than Indian users, whose online search priorities changed enormously through the COVID-19 lockdown which began in our country on March 24. Yahoo today announced Search in the Lockdown, which chronicles and compares what users here searched right before the lockdown. New search priorities have emerged since then. These trends are based on users’ daily search habits in the last one month and an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo.
COVID-19 searches record massive jump
Before COVID-19 began to rule the search bar, the top search keywords online (for news) included ‘Delhi election results,’ ‘Delhi riots / Delhi violence’ and ‘JNU violence’. The top searched keywords (people) included (US President) ‘Donald Trump’, (Delhi CM) ‘Arvind Kejriwal’ and (politician) ‘Jyotiraditya Scindia’.
Through the lockdown, Coronavirus related searches rose by a whopping 427 per cent. The top five COVID-19 keywords were ‘COVID-19 updates’, ‘Symptoms of COVID-19’, ‘COVID-19 treatment’, ‘COVID-19 death toll’ and ‘Live COVID-19 tracker.’
Top searches related to Coronavirus included ‘Lockdown in India,’ ‘Vaccine for coronavirus,’ ‘Social distancing’ — a new term for most Indians and Hydroxychloroquine for Coronavirus — the anti-malarial drug that India is a leading producer of, described by US President Donald Trump as “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine” and a possible treatment for COVID-19.
Netizens scramble for productivity tools online
From pre-lockdown navigational searches for ‘WhatsApp web’ and ‘YouTube,’ Indians, who had to overnight work and learn from home, searched for a new class of products and tools to stay productive. The ‘Top 5 Most Searched Tools for Team Communication,’ that enabled students to learn and professionals to work together remotely through the lockdown were: Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting.
Kanika Kapoor replaces Priyanka Chopra from the top
Social media favourite Priyanka Chopra was the ‘Most Searched Female Celebrity’ online in pre-lockdown India. She was followed by Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone respectively.
However, that changed when singer Kanika Kapoor pipped these superstars to take the top spot on the list after she tested positive for COVID-19. (The UP police booked the singer for negligence for attending three social gatherings in Lucknow, after her return from London and being instructed by the authorities to self-isolate.) Curiosity was at an all time high about the singer, the chronology of her illness and her recovery online. In fact, Kanika, known for her hits Babydoll and Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan, wasn’t just the ‘Most Searched Female Celebrity,’ she was the most searched among both male and female celebrities.
Lockdown celebs stayed in the news for their philanthropy, commitment to support COVID-19 causes and awareness, besides spreading cheer and rocking lockdown fashion for fans on social media.
Amitabh Bachchan rises to rule
Superstars Rajinikanth (after Darbar), Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were top three in the ‘Most Searched Male Celebrity’ category before the lockdown was announced. Post-lockdown, superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth, active voices urging fans to stay safe through this period (and with some controversial tweets) took the Number one and two spots on the list of ‘Most Searched Male Celebs.’ Salman Khan slid to the third position.
From public service announcements to generous donations and offering a glimpse of life in a lockdown, celebrities stayed in the public eye and accessible on social media. Actors Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff rounded off the Top five ‘Most Searched Male Celebs’ through the lockdown.
The Resurgence of Ramayana
It was entertainment as usual pre-lockdown, with netizens searching for Big Boss, Drive, Tanhaji, Housefull 4 and Good Newwz as their top entertainment searches. After the lockdown, Ramayana broke through overnight to become the top entertainment search after it was re-telecast on Doordarshan — a demand that sprung up on social media, with users requesting mythological programmes to be brought back for people at home during the quarantine. Pandemic film Contagion also jumped into the top five.
Amazon Prime Video ahead of Netflix
As demand for OTT services spiked, searches for OTT services rose by 59 per cent with users searching for streaming choices online. The top five searches for OTT Services were: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot and Zee5.
Dalgona coffee craze hits India too
With restaurants shut and food delivery services interrupted, Indians searched online for ways to make their meals more interesting. Dalgona coffee was trending across the world after going viral on social media and India was no exception. The recipe for this frothy caffeine cup rose to number one on the list of ‘Top Recipe Searches’ during the lockdown. Indians experimenting in the kitchen also searched for cake, paneer and chicken recipes. With staples like bread off the shelf for parts of the lockdown, users also searched for breakfast recipes.