What are Indians searching for on Google: Cab sharing

If mobile search trends are any indicator, Indians are increasingly getting conscious on energy saving, as mobile users searching for carpooling and ridesharing increased over 173 per cent from the previous year, a Google consumer report said.

The report titled ‘The Year in Search 2015’ pointed out other trends in consumer behavior including a 250 percent annual growth in mobile searches related to wearables, 200 per cent growth in those related to 4G devices and 50 per cent increase in online dating searches through mobile.

With a significant increase in car-pooling searches done through mobile, over 60 percent increase was seen in car rental searches and cab services searches increased by 86 percent.

Calling out mobile as the growth engine for the internet industry, the report outlines how mass adoption of mobile phones is driving adoption of newer services, becoming the primary screen for consumption of media and defining the new user experiences.

With over 200 million mobile internet users in the country, mobile captured 60 percent share of all shopping related queries and over 50 per cent share of all travel related queries.

“Mobile internet is beginning to influence, and in many cases define, an Indian user’s first experience online- and the Industry is taking notice. It is exciting to see, for example, how Search interest for cars is seeing a strong correlation to actual sales,” said Rajan Anandan, VP & Managing Director, Google India.

Also, in an interesting trend, tier 2 cities seem to be driving the next wave of growth driven from smartphones. The year that passed witnessed adoption of internet by older age groups seeking diverse variety of information and embracing new age platforms.

Used car searches from non-metros grew rapidly, with three in four searches for used car searches coming from tier 2 cities. Real estate searches from tier 2 cities saw massive growth seeing 100 percent annual growth. In the pre-owned category, searches for used cars formed the largest share with seven in 10 searches coming in for used cars.

With 250 per cent growth in searches related to Wearables, “health” was the most searched attribute for Wearables, reflecting in key product features and communication by brands. Pointing to trends in ecommerce industry, 91 percent buyers, according to the report, researched before a purchase. Six out of 10 online shoppers and 70 percent traffic on ecommerce platforms came from mobile platform, including mobile web and apps.