Extending unprecedented support to the Indian contingent this year, the sprawling nation of 1.3 billion moved beyond Cricket, as Rio Olympics 2016 emerged as the top trending search query on Google in 2016. Following up close was a game that took the world by storm, Pokemon Go.
The US presidential elections have always been closely watched in India but this year the interest was further heightened, . US President Donald Trump emerged on top of the list of trending personalities. Following him were the world-class performances by Indian female athletes at the world’s biggest sporting event. Indian badminton star and olympic medalist, P.V.Sindhu took the second spot in the overall trending personality searches.
The latest social media obsession Sonam Gupta, made a surprise entry at third position while Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar taking the fourth spot followed by Bollywood actress Disha Patani who recently made her Bollywood debut in a biopic on Indian cricketing star M S Dhoni. Indian female wrestler and Olympic champion Sakshi Malik also featured among the Top 10 trending personalities on Google.
A quick look at  the year’s top news moments that captured India’s attention reveals that even though Olympics topped the charts, the historic win for Donald Trump in US elections and Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit) reflected on India’s rising involvement and interest around global issues. The 7th Pay commission, Demonetization, and the strategic surgical strike on terror groups caught everyone’s attention and generated a great deal of search curiosity among Indian users.
Among the Bollywood leads, power packed performance by Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Patani not just won them accolades but the duo also emerged on the top trending charts of male and female bollywood stars.
When it comes to movies and entertainment, Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan with his blockbuster film ‘Sultan’ captured the peak position among top trending movies followed closely by Thalaiva Rajinikanth’s blockbuster film ‘Kabali’.  Shahid Kapoor starrer Udta Punjab, Akshay Kumar’s Airlift and Ranbir and Anushka Sharma starrer ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ also made it to the Top 5.
