Election 2014 trends on Google this year

Politics kept the online space abuzz in 2014, with the term Elections 2014 topped Google India's trending lists this year as online presence mattered considerably for all political parties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the top most searched personalities this year, coming ahead of Bollywood biggies such as Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. This is the first time a politician has gained more search popularity than entertainment celebrities, according to Google India.

Google India on Tuesday announced its 2014 Year in search lists, a look at the top trends and searches through the collective eyes of the world on the web.

''The findings of Google's Year in Search are a clear testimony of India's growing interest in issues of national importance. The 2014 Lok Sabha elections pointed to the power of digital media and also to the unprecedented demand for information. These elections were fought as much on India's dusty plains as it was on digital platforms, including social media such as Google Hangouts and YouTube,'' said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director at Google India.

''We have seen an exponential increase in the number of Internet searches this year, not just on desktops but also smartphones, a trend that is reflective of India's growing digital emergence as the next billion Indians begin to embrace the power of the Internet,'' Anandan added.

Also topping the trending searches were sports tournaments such as FIFA World Cup 2014 and Indian Premier League 2014. Searches for both of these banner sporting events broke records with fans searching online for teams, players, scores and match results.

Among the top searched people, Sunny Leone continued to be the most searched personality, just ahead of perennial favourites such as Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone. Cricket was second only to Bollywood in searches and India's current captain to the Australian Tour Virat Kohli emerging on top, just ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, whose popularity endures even after his retirement.

Bollywood thriller Ragini MMS 2 topped the chart this year as the most searched-for movie, followed by Salman Khan hits Kick and Jai Ho and Aamir Khan blockbuster Dhoom 3. Popular tracks including Bang Bang's title track Honey Singh's 'Blue eyes' and party song 'Sunny Sunny' from the movie Yaariyan dominated the airwaves and emerged as the most searched in the music category.

In addition to the historic win of PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections, the death of Sunanda Pushkar and the unsolved mystery of Malaysia Airlines 370 also generated a great deal of search curiosity, it added.

A rise in smartphone sales in India and a growing demand for Internet access on handheld devices has seen a huge spike in Internet search on mobile in 2014. Railway enquiries, cricket news, online shopping followed by songs and film clips were among the top searches on handhelds devices. Weather information, games, and wallpaper downloads also formed a large section of these searches.