This year, we accepted that the world as we knew it had been altered. While 2020 saw us learning to adapt to new ways of living, in 2021, we leveraged our experience, resilience, and inquisitiveness to become adept at these new ways.
Of the billions of searches we see every day, 15% are brand new1 — from new user segments, across categories, and for all kinds of queries. And as people turn to the internet to fulfill their needs, they are faced with limitless information and abundant choices. Shoppers are increasingly relying on digital to evaluate their options and make sense of this torrent of information. For example, in 2021, we saw a 41% increase in search interest in "which brand is good" as people looked to build their consideration sets.2
As marketers, we play an integral role in helping consumers make more confident decisions. This means understanding their priorities and preferences. Our recent research found that 83% of Indian consumers agreed that they would purchase from a brand that provided helpful and trustworthy information when they were exploring options.3 By offering relevant information, brands can help shoppers who face decision paralysis. This also means that trusted sources are more important than ever. People are increasingly concerned about privacy, security, and transparency, and are willing to invest time and resources into ensuring that brands align with their value systems and beliefs.
At Google, we’re humbled to see people trusting us to help them with their queries. Whether they’re existing internet users looking to reevaluate their lifestyles, or newcomers with fresh concerns, people all over India and the rest of the world rely on Search to answer their questions. In 2021, "sustainable" rose to its highest search interest within the last five years in India as consumers now expect the brands they choose to share the same higher purpose.4
Searches like these offer us unique insight into what people really care about. We hope that this edition of our Year in Search India report can help you make sense of the billions of searches that happen and guide your business strategy to be better prepared for what’s next. We hope that our takeaways will inspire you to translate insights into action, and evolve your business strategies to be better prepared for 2022 and beyond.
