Applications
Akon is most searched, downloaded by mobile users
MUMBAI: Research, done by mBit Infotech, a pioneer in Value Added Services (Vas) has revealed that Akon is the most searched and downloaded popular icon/personality in the mobile search and download space.
In the Bollywood category, Katrina’s mobile popularity is way ahead of Shahrukh’s, as revealed by the research.
The research is based on the searches performed by over 1,20,000 users of mBit in the first quarter of 2010 (Jan – April). The results showed that ‘SEX‘ is still the-most-popular-searched Keyword, out of 6730 unique keywords, which accounts for 30 per cent of the total searches performed including words porn, porno, naked etc.
music is the second most searched for keyword accounting to the 19 per cent of the total searches. Mostly international music icons like Akon, Linkin Park, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Rihanna and Michael Jackson top the list in this category. Also, sports specially cricket along with movies and videos are the third most searched for category which is 15 per cent of the total searches.
Surprisingly, searches with keywords for Bollywood and Hollywood icons were way below accounting to only five per cent of the total searches according to the mBit research.
mBit Infotech CEO Raghavendra Agarwala says,”It is amazing to see that out of this total five per cent, Katrina Kaif is ruling the charts with a major pie, presumably implying that Katrina’s popularity is mounting for both national and international audiences. This has placed Katrina on the number one spot followed by Angelina Jolie, Kareena kapoor, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Bipasha Basu, Aishwarya Rai, Monica Bellucci and Amir Khan by a considerable amount. Also, besides the ‘A‘ searches which are highly searched for on mobile phones as well, Music is something that the users are actually looking at.”
Apart from the above, news related topics along with some general keywords takes the rest of the percentage slot.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
