DHAKA: More people searched online for Bollywood newcomer Sunny Leone than actors like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar, making her the most searched personality in 2013, according to Google India’s annual Zeitgeist

The Google India Zeitgiest tracks the year’s major events and trends based on Google searches conducted in the country, reports Hindustan Times.

Shah Rukh Khan was fifth in the list, followed by singer Honey Singh, Telugu and Tamil film actress Kajal Agarwal, Kareena Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar and Poonam Pandey.

Bollywood hits and the Indian Premier League topped the trending charts, with Shah Rukh Khan starrer-Chennai Express topping the Zeitgeist chart this year.

Following in the list was Indian Premier League 2013, Bollywood film ‘Aashiqui 2’, while UIDAI, John Walker and Jiah Khan also made it in the top 10 list.

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi emerged the leader in the most searched news category, followed by Blackberry phones, Rahul Dravid, Saina Nehwal and Vijay Mallya.

According to the Zeitgeist, there was an uptick in searches for e-commerce sites with Flipkart and Olx.com topping the chart for most searched online shopping sites.

‘From a search trends perspective, 2013 was clearly the year of entertainment. Online shopping, banking and e-commerce also continued their upward trend - a clear testimony to Indians embracing online transactions,’ Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director (Sales and Operations) at Google India, said.

Searches on mobile phones were driven by people looking for restaurants, bars and movies, followed by coffee and cricket score.

Exotic travel destinations like Macau, Maldives and Mauritius also saw more searches than places like Boston, Dubai, Amsterdam and Singapore.

BDST: 1920 HRS, DEC 18, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor