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It’s that time of the year when people look back on moments and patterns that defined the last 12 months. Here’s a comprehensive list of everything India searched for on the Internet this year.

It's that time of the year when people look back on moments and patterns that defined the last 12 months. And that's true with the Internet too. With a large proportion of Indians spending considerable time online, their varied searches are a reflection of the events, moments and trends that shaped the year that was, for our country.

"Besides serving as a great indicator of what made news through the year, it also provides a unique perspective on what clicked with people and the way they consumed information on the Internet," says Vinay Goel, Head of Products, Google India.

The year was an eclectic mix of news, views and reactions when it came to top online searches. While Katrina Kaif turned out to be the most popular celebrity on Google Zeitgeist 2009, the popularity of the words 'Budget 2009' on various search engines showed that India was still worried about global recession.

Social networking was still 'in' amongst Indians and Mumbaikars, while romance was the preferred flavour with Love Aaj Kal being this year's most searched movie, and how to kiss, the most sought after query.

But the most surprising trend was that Matheran emerged as the top holiday destination beating several local and foreign competitors.

While Budget 2009 remained one of the most anticipated events of the year amidst global recession, the Satyam controversy ensured that shareholders logged on to stay updated on a minute-by-minute basis.

Netizens flocked the Indian railways website to book their tickets online even as Michael Jackson's sudden demise caused a mini furore online. Even the dismal performance of one of Bollywood's most-awaited films, Kambakth Ishq did not escape Indians on the web.

Most searched in the category

1 Budget 2009
2 Kambakth Ishq
3 Irctc
4 Satyam share price
5 Bhuvan
6 Michael Jackson
7 Twitter
8 Election results
9 Windows 7
10 Nokia 5800

1

Orkut

2 Katrina Kaif

3 Aishwarya Rai

4 Namitha

5 Gmail

6 Priyanka Chopra

7 Asin

8 Angelina Jolie

10 Salman Khan

Most popular sportspersons

WWE, football and tennis broke cricket's strong hold this year with Sania Mirza, John Cena, Christiano Ronaldo and Federer making it to the top ten most searched sports personalities list. Sania held on to the number one position for three years in a row, even as Sachin Tendular remained India's favourite cricketer.

Most popular holiday destinations
Quaint hill station Matheran beat popular destinations such as Kerala and Goa to be the most searched destination of 2009. International holidays were a popular choice among Indians with Maldives, Australia, Singapore and Switzerland making the cut as destinations searched for by Indians for a holiday. Shah Jehan's labour of love and one of India's most-celebrated heritage structures, the Taj Mahal, continued to be the most searched for monuments online.

Most searched in the category:

1 Matheran

2 Kerala

3 Goa

4 Taj Mahal

5 Kashmir

7 Australia

8 Singapore

9 Switzerland

10 Jaipur

Most searched in the category:

Most searched in the category:

1 Katrina Kaif

2 Michael Jackson

4 Aishwarya Rai

5 Shahid Kapoor

6 Kareena Kapoor

7 Shahrukh Khan

8 Angelina Jolie

9 Megan Fox

10 Sachin Tendulkar

Most searched in the category:

1 Love Aaj Kal
2 Harry Potter
3 Slumdog Millionaire
4 Kaminey
5 Kambakht Ishq
6 Ghajini
7 Hannah Montana
8 Dev D
9 Wake Up Sid
10 Dostana

Most popular politicians:
Young was 'in' with Rahul Gandhi emerging as the most searched politician in India. Sarah Palin was searched more than Barack Obama. And in a reflection of how deep-rooted dynasty politics is in the country, the three generations of the Gandhi family as well as two generations of Pilot family made it to this list.

1 Rahul Gandhi

2 Indira Gandhi

3 Sachin Pilot

4 Sarah Palin

5 P Chidambaram

6 Mayawati

7 Barack Obama

8 Sonia Gandhi

9 Rajesh Pilot

10 Maneka Gandhi

The Indian railways site continued to remain popular as netizens flocked to book tickets and check their travel statuses. Search engines like Yahoo and Google too were in vogue while YouTube with its videos became a hit among Indians.

Most searched in the category

1 Gmail
2 Youtube
3 Yahoomail
4 Orkut
5 Indian railways
6 Yahoo
7 Google
8 Rediffmail
9 Facebook
10 Rediff

Top 'buy' queries:
Shopping wasn't ignored by India's netizens. With people spending a lot of their time online, buying antivirus software turned out to be the most in demand. Cars and books were a close second and third.

Most searched in the category

1 Buy antivirus
2 Buy used cars
3 Buy book online

Top ten searches in Mumbai:
Mumbaikars too made their presence felt on the World Wide Web with social networking, videos, search engines and email websites being the most sought after online.

Most searched in the category

1 Orkut

2 Gmail

3 Facebook

4 Yahoo

5 Youtube

6 Yahoomail

7 Indian railways

8 Rediffmail.com

9 Google

10 Rediff

India's Video trends for 2009

Top five videos on Youtube
This search threw up an assorted mix of what was in demand on YouTube. While a video on social networking site, Orkut was most popular, celebs urging people to vote during the Indian elections as well as a video on how to crack this year's CAT were most watched.

1 Orkut in 30 seconds
2 Travel Video, Kerala, India
3 Hugs with Lions
4 Celebrity Voices - Voice Your Manifesto
5 What to expect on IIM CAT Test Day by Prometric

1 Hai Junoon Remix music video - New York
2 Mere Sang Remix - New York
3 Twist Song Promotion- Love Aaj Kal
4 Hadippa the Remix - Dil Bole Hadippa
5 Genda Phool- Delhi 6

Top movie trailers:
Hollywood beat Bollywood on YouTube with 2012 emerging as the most awaited movie this year. Its trailer got the maximum hits even as New Moon and Michael Jackson's This Is It made it to the top five. Bollywood was represented by Dil Bole Hadippa and New York.

1 2012 -Trailer HD
2 Dil Bole Hadippa - Exclusive Theatrical Trailer - Dil Bole Hadippa
3 New York Trailer - Hindi (HQ)
4 New Moon Movie Trailer - Official (HD)
5 Michael Jackson 'This Is It' - Official Movie Trailer

1 Beautiful- Akon
2 Takin' Back My Love - Enrique Iglesias feat. Ciara
3 Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny) - The Pussycat Dolls
4 New Divide - Linkin Park
5 The Climb -Miley Cyrus - Official Music Video (HQ)