Yahoo announces Year in Review 2014

•  Online India is fascinated both by Modi’s reforms and his sense of style!
•  Mukesh Ambani tops ‘India’s Most Influential’ list
•  Sunny Leone is the most-searched celebrity for the third year in a row

Yahoo India today announced its 2014 Year in Review (YIR)* a look at the year’s top trends, happenings and events, which caught the imagination of Yahoo users in India. YIR is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo in India.

In its seventh year now, the annual YIR reflects what interested Yahoo users through 2014 – from the celebrities they couldn’t get enough of, to events that made history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who contributed to changing the political landscape in 2014, led High and Mighty ‒ the Political Top 10. Modi’s trusted aides Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley also feature on this list, which includes Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

Not surprising for a cricket-crazy nation, the game continued to dominate the most-searched sports. Alongside M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar ‒ wielding a pen this time for his much talked about autobiography ‒ featured among Cricketers of the year. Legendary Indian boxer Mary Kom, who became the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal at the Asian Games clinched her position among the Brightest Sports Stars, as did fellow boxer Sarita Devi, who shines in the same category.

Sunny Leone was the Most-searched celebrity for the third year in a row! Deepika Padukone reserved her place among the top-searched celebs, with Alia Bhatt joining the list. Among the actors, Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham were much “searched after” in 2014. Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence led the list of most-searched international celebrities in 2014.

Closing the year with Happy New Year, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone could not have wished for a happier ending, loved by fans online, who have made them one of Bollywood’s Best on Screen Romances of 2014.

The slew of reforms and Modi’s efforts to improve diplomatic ties were of ongoing interest to Yahoo users. ‘Make in India,’ the three magic words that constitute Modi’s mantra while abroad, made it to the top of the list of Biggest Financial Events of the Year. The government’s decision to deregulate diesel and gas prices, and the setting up of a special investigative team to bring back illicit wealth stashed abroad, were other top searches in the category. More than a few controversies also grabbed attention online. These included the Supreme Court declaring all coal block allocations between 1993 and 2010 illegal, and the Syndicate Bank bribe-for-loan scandal. Airfare wars in the Indian skies, Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale and Alibaba’s record-breaking $25 billion IPO were also highly searched in the same category.

India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani led the list of YIR’s 2014 Finance Newsmakers. Also on this year’s list are Apple CEO Tim Cook, with one of the most important ‘coming out’ events of the year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Infosys CEO & MD Vishal Sikka. Whether it’s Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal or Binny Bansal, or Snapdeal’s Rohit Bansal, the e-tailing sector’s domination by ‘the Bansals’ ensured they were Finance Newsmakers for the year. Two high-profile deaths in the corporate world – the mysterious plane crash of French oil major Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie’s in Moscow and the death of Tata Motors’ MD Karl Slym in Bangkok – were among other top searches in this category.

Coming to the nation’s most influential people, Mukesh Ambani makes a second appearance at the No. 1 spot, with Tata Group boss Cyrus Mistry and Gautam Adani, Chief of Adani Group of Industries, making up the top 3.

From dominating the political arena to putting Indian traditional menswear on the International map, Prime Minister Modi left a firm stamp on style trends in 2014. His signature Modi kurta and variation of the Nehru achkan coat were among the most-searched Beauty & Style trends. Sheer palazzo pants, bright floral leggings / jeggings, and a full-grown beard (which replaced last year’s handle bar mustache) were among the other beauty and style trends that users aspired to and wanted to know more about.

Looking at the tech gear Yahoo users searched for this year, three Apple products appear in the top 10 gadget searches, with iPhone 6 coming in at a firm No. 1. Samsung clocked in with two Galaxy devices. See the 10 Most Wanted Tech Gadgets.
This year recorded the highest-ever production of vehicles in the Indian auto industry. Maruti, Mercedes, Audi, Hyundai and Mahindra all launched cars for the diverse Indian market and won the hearts of Indian users. Take a look at the YIR 2014 list of India’s popular cars.