Katrina most googled person, Hazare second

Leaving behind anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has emerged as the most searched person online in the country this year, says a report by search engine giant Google.

The report released by Google today has come up with the topics and persons that Internet users in the country searched the most in 2011.

Katrina Kaif topped the chart in the category of 'Top Searched People' online. Hazare came second.

Hazare was at the top position in the category of 'Fastest Rising People', which is the list of people that have gained interest of Internet users. Strip-fame model Poonam Pandey is second in this list.

Among the news items, cricket league IPL tops the chart while the current hot topic in Indian news media 'Lok Pal Bill' is the fifth most searched subject online.

In sports, Cricket World Cup 2011 emerged as the most searched sporting event, while Sachin Tendulkar was the most searched sports person.

Ironically, competitor Facebook is at the top of 'Top Searches' on Google, followed by its own video-sharing service YouTube.

Interestingly, the report noticed that for the first time Internet moved out of the realm of the metros, which was the trend until last year.

"Over 70% of search happened in non-metros and a lot of Internet usage moved to mobile phones," Google India Head of Products Lalitesh Katrgadda said.