The rise of online search volumes in non-metros is trumping that in non-metros, according to one of the emerging trends flagged in Google’s annual ‘Year in Search: Insights for Brands Report’ released Thursday. For example, 61% of all searches across BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) are coming from non-metros, as 55% of all auto-related searches from non-metros.
Among other trends are the emergence of video as the new search tool, and the rise of Indian-language Internet users. Online video audience in India is expected to grow to 500 million by 2020. Watch time for science videos as well as hobby-related videos in India have more than tripled in 2018.
YouTube has also become the new beauty adviser, as watch time for beauty tips videos in India has doubled year-on-year in 2018 and searches related to beauty have grown by 40% last year, the report said.
About languages, the report said 9 out of 10 new Internet users in India are likely to be Indian language users (Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi).
Indian language users are expected to account for nearly 75% of India’s Internet user base by 2021, and Google search trends show a significant move in this direction. Hindi searches have increased across various query types, the report found.
Among other trends highlighted in the report, dating searches are catching up with matrimony queries. There has been a 40% growth in dating-related searches.
[“source=indianexpress”]
