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Hobbies, entertainment top topics of web searches for Indians: Ipsos
MUMBAI: More than four in ten Indians (45 per cent) use the Internet to search for information on entertainment and hobbies due to diverse and vast amount of information that is available in the Internet these days, according to a new study by leading global research firm Ipsos.
Downloading and streaming media – music (43 per cent), movies (39 per cent) and television (27 per cent) – is a popular pursuit, as are video games (28 per cent) and gaming online for money (26 per cent).
Ipsos in India Head of Marketing Communication Biswarup Banerjee said, “While the internet may be a place for business and commerce, it is also a place for play. Growing popularity of internet has shifted search for information from traditional print media to the dynamic, comprehensive and on demand internet search engines”.
Well over half (57 per cent) of people globally use the Internet to search for information on entertainment and hobbies. But usage in the 24 countries surveyed varied widely, with 72 per cent of people in Turkey saying they visited sites for hobbies, while only 35 per cent in Saudi Arabia did.
Other heavy personal-interest, web-surfing nations included China, Hungary, Japan, South Korea and Sweden, while Argentina, Spain, India, Brazil and Mexico were among the lowest users.
The Web as a Source for Media: Downloading and streaming is a popular activity, particularly of music: four in ten (43 per cent) of global citizens online say they have downloaded/streamed music in the last three months while three in ten (34%) say so about movies and two in ten (22 per cent) do for television.
China is the world leader on all three forms of media by considerable margins. Majorities of Chinese Internet users say they downloaded/streamed music (72 per cent), movies (71 per cent) and TV (55 per cent). Turkey (62 per cent music, 58 per cent movies, 34 per cent TV) is also a global leader on this measure.
“It‘s remarkable to think that the file-sharing technology, popularised for music only in recent history, is now being done by four in 10 internet users in 24 countries. Even in countries at the bottom of the global ranking lists, one quarter still do it” adds Banerjee.
On the flip side, only handfuls of Japanese web surfers say they downloaded or streamed media in the last three months (24 per cent music, nine per cent movies, nine per cent TV). France is also at the bottom of each list: music (24 per cent), movies (15 per cent) and TV (seven per cent). Notably, even the lowest-ranking countries show at least one in four have downloaded or streamed music online.
A Place to Play: Three in ten (27 per cent) say they have ‘played video games online’ and 13 per cent have done ‘online gaming or playing for money (e.g. poker, bingo).’ China is also the world leader of online video gamers (61 per cent), followed at some distance by Poland (47 per cent), Turkey (38 per cent) and Mexico (33 per cent). The Swedes (13 per cent) are least likely to play video games online, joining South Korea (16 per cent), Hungary (17 per cent), Japan (18 per cent) and France (18 per cent) at the bottom of the list.
“Online games are increasingly becoming popular among teens and young adults and it promises to be a booming industry,” added Banerjee.
With online gambling for money, Indians are the most keen among the 24 countries surveyed: one in four (26 per cent) say they did so in the past three months. Saudi Arabia (23 per cent), Poland (21 per cent), South Korea (20 per cent) and Sweden (20 per cent) are next. Those connected online in Italy (six per cent), Germany ( six per cent), Mexico (seven per cent), China (seven per cent) and Australia (seven per cent) are least likely to say so.
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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.
