Yahoo today announced ‘Search in the Lockdown,’ which chronicles and compares what users in India searched for right before the country went into lockdown a month ago, and new search priorities that have emerged since the lockdown began.
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. Top search keyword -- Covid-19 -- recorded a massive jump.
Through the lockdown, novel coronavirus related searches rose by a whopping 427 per cent. The top 5 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 the Novel Coronavirus included 'Lockdown in India,' 'Vaccine for coronavirus,' 'Social distancing' -- a new term for most Indians. Users also looked for Hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus -- the anti-malarial drug that US President Donald Trump said could be a possible treatment for Covid-19.
Netizens scramble for work from home tools online
From pre-lockdown navigational searches for 'WhatsApp Web' and 'YouTube,' Indians, who had to 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 included Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, and GoToMeeting.
In the world of entertainment
Singer Kanika Kapoor became the most searched female celebrity after she tested positive for Covid-19. (The UP police booked the singer for negligence for attending three social gatherings in Lucknow.
The resurgence of Ramayan topped the most searched entertainment source chart. After the lockdown, Ramayan broke through overnight to become the top entertainment search after it was re-telecast on Doordarshan -- a demand that sprung up on social media.
Top OTT platforms
Top searches for OTT services during the lockdown include 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 5 searches for OTT services were: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot, and Zee5.
Top recipe search
Dalgona Coffee craze hit India as well. 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 No. 1 on the list of Top Recipe Searches during the lockdown.