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Anna leads top10 searches on Internet: Yahoo
MUMBAI: Yahoo! India has unveiled its 2011 Year in Review (YIR) and Anna Hazare has emerged as the leader in the ‘top searched‘ list on internet.
The 2011 Year in Review is being released for the third year in India.
It offers an annual look-back into the biggest trends of the year, as learnt from the millions of searches that took place on Yahoo!, plus the editorial selection of what users read, recommended and shared most on the Yahoo! network.
Next to Hazare was Sachin Tendulkar. He is also this year‘s sportsperson of the year, with his elusive 100th ton notwithstanding.
Bollywood‘s ‘Sheila‘ Katrina Kaif, who had topped the charts last year, slipped to third place in 2011.
Yahoo! India managing editor Prem Panicker said, “From frenetic cricket mania to the politics of ‘honesty‘, the Indian Internet audience witnessed interesting happenings in the year 2011, right here on Yahoo!; be it breaking news, engaging cricket coverage, consuming celebrity and Bollywood content, Yahoo! is where millions of Indians came every day to connect with their passions. The Yahoo! Year in Review is truly reflective of the pulse of the Internet user in India – a snapshot of what mattered most to them.”
The Yahoo! YIR also has editorial selection of top trends in 11 other categories. Mamta Banerjee, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, J Jayalalitha all grabbed positions in the Top Newsmakers Category. The performance Metallica, the DK Bose saga, and Lady Gaga all pepped up the music world and secured places in The Year in Song category.
Bizzare stories such as Peta launching a porn site, a woman giving birth to her own grandchild, and kissing can cause cavities, intrigued the nation. Kolaveri (The killer instinct), Poschim Bongo (newly acquired name of West Bengal), the Royal Wedding, Tihar Jail (Tiharis: A Raja, Kanimozhi, Suresh Kalmadi), ‘I‘ (for Innovation guru Steve Jobs), and DK Bose emerged as the hottest Buzzwords online.
Aishwarya-Abhishek‘s baby, Konkana-Ranveer‘s baby, and Lara Dutta‘s pregnancy were all followed with huge interest. Breakups such as Priyanka-Shahid and John-Bipasha featured high in the category- Celeb babies and heartbreaks.
Controversies found their way into the report in the listings for the Facepalm category with Miss India Universe Vasuki Sunkavalli‘s alleged plagiarism, Rakhi Sawant‘s marriage aspirations, and Kiran Bedi‘s travelling economy making their way into the charts.
More trends revolved around Notable quotes, Fond farewells, and Top10 automobile launches.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
