Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Pakistan’s Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem, Bollywood’s ‘Heeramandi’ on Netflix and iPhone 16 were among the top searched topics by Pakistanis in 2024, according to Google’s Year in Search 2024, a press release issued on Tuesday revealed.
Pakistan’s digital landscape also comprised of lively searches on cricket, technology and food recipes – showcasing the nation’s content preferences.
Cricket, unsurprisingly, dominated search trends, with the ICC T20 World Cup dominating sports searches.
PSL 2024 schedules and matchups, alongside queries for star players like Shoaib Malik and Sajid Khan, were among the keywords most used, according to the press statement.
Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem also attracted significant interest from Pakistani users after he won the first gold medal for the country in almost three decades.
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This interest extended to media personalities Sana Javed and Zoya Nasir, Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, and social media figures Hareem Shah and Minahil Malik also.
The enduring appeal of Pakistani dramas was also evident in searches for shows like ‘Ishq Murshid’ and ‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum’.
Meanwhile across the border, while the Ambani wedding was the main event of 2024, Bollywood films like ‘Animal’, ‘Dunki’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, were among popular searches.
Food nation
That Pakistanis are foodies is no secret.
Pakistanis turned to Google in order to expand their taste buds and treat themselves to an array of culinary delights, with searches for recipes ranging from banana bread and creamy pasta to local favorites like malpura and tawa kaleji.
The popularity of quick bites like garlic bread and egg noodles, along with seasonal drinks like peach iced tea, further showcased the nation’s diverse palate.
How to…
“How to check polling station” and “How to make millions before grandma dies” were the top two “how to” searches dominating Google among users from Pakistan.
Parenting tips, particularly on teaching sharing to four-year-olds, also followed closely behind.
“From the cricket pitch to the kitchen, from the silver screen to the search bar, Pakistanis are using Google to explore their passions, connect with their culture, and shape their future. AI has been integral to reimagining what Search can do, and we’re looking forward to expanding on our capabilities to help Pakistanis discover more of the web and the world around them,” Farhan Qureshi, Google’s Country Director for Pakistan, was quoted as saying in the press release.
On the tech front, searches for Gemini, and Remaker AI highlighted the growing interest in AI tools, while queries for the latest smartphones, including models from Infinix, Redmi, Vivo, and Apple, showcased an increasingly tech-savvy population.
Google’s annual year-end list for this year can be summed up within the following categories:
Cricket
People
Movies & Drama
How To
Recipes
Technology
