KARACHI: Google on Wednesday released its ‘Year in Search’ lists revealing the top most searched people, news and events in Pakistan for the outgoing year.

According to the popular internet search engine, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Manika remained the most trending person in the country for the year 2018, followed by Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, singer and actor Meesha Shafi, and journalist Reham Khan.

Although the first lady has been making the headlines throughout the year, according to Google’s data, the most number of searches in her name was recorded between January and February, during the time rumours of her marriage with Imran Khan were doing the rounds.

Searches related to Meesha Shafi spiked after she became the first celebrity in the entertainment industry to accuse another celebrity, Ali Zafar, of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, as per the Google data, people searched Reham Khan the most during June when her biography came out.

Among the other top 10 personalities trending in Pakistan, two political leaders also made it to the list. Ranked at the seventh spot, search related to economist Atif Mian spiked in September after he was removed from PM Imran Khan’s new Economic Advisory Council owing to mounting pressures from religio-political groups. The other political personality on the list was Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the long-running ephedrine quota case in July.

Indian actress Sonali Bendre was the sixth most searched personality, while Pakistani TV actress Iqra Aziz ninth and Indian actress Sunny Leone was the 10th most googled person of the year.

The search engine also revealed that seven of its top 10 Pakistani trends for the outgoing year were sports related. The top Pakistani search trend was Pakistan versus New Zealand series, followed by the Fifa World Cup, Pakistan vs Australia series, Pakistan Super League and Brisbane Asia Cup.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2018