New Delhi, November 10, 2022: Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today released the readership insights for the month of October 2022. Using Topic Insights, Taboola Newsroom used real-time audience analytics to discover some of the interesting and trending topics that caught Indian readers’ attention over the last month.
The surge in pageview traffic revealed insights into the diverse interests of the Indian audience in content across sports, technology, and health. Here are some of the key insights revealed from the readership trends:
- Sports:
Cricket is seen as India’s national religion, and with numerous domestic and international matches, players, rules, tactics, etc. making headlines every day, hundreds of thousands of cricket fans and enthusiasts read new developments and insights across the internet. Recently, South Africa’s tour of India caused a frenzy amongst Indian sports fans and readers. The T20 and the ODI series saw a 100% surge in readership, compared to the last 45 days.
The articles related to ‘South Africa’ saw a surge of 198% in pageviews, which highlighted Indian cricket players such as Hardik Pandya rested for the series, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant made a comeback into the playing XI and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was back in the mix for the first game against South Africa.
Moreover, the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is one of the biggest sports events for cricket fans in India. During the tournament, India’s iconic win over Pakistan in one of the matches that took place on 23rd October 2022, saw a 407% increase in readership on the Taboola Newsroom. However, during the India-Pakistan cricket match, it was witnessed that all online shopping activities were put on hold and there was a drop in the UPI online transactions during the day which clearly highlighted people’s craze for the match as they were glued to their screens for the constant updates.
- Technology:
5G services have recently been launched in India. This is a major advancement in the realm of internet connectivity. Tech enthusiasts searched for articles related to ‘Airtel 5G’ and ‘5G Service’, which saw a surge of 485% and 516%, respectively, which primarily focused on how Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea plan to roll out 5G services in India, and how 5G will shape the industry.
- Health:
The buzz around Health and Fitness in the country has been there for a long time, especially with celebrities and important dignitaries promoting healthy lifestyle. The usage of deep learning tools to detect pancreatic cancer and the FDA approval for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes are examples of recent breakthroughs in the healthcare industry. The articles related to ‘Health and Fitness’ saw a 683% surge in readership in the last 45 days. The readership interest regarding healthcare can be gauged from the fact that the news pieces on ‘Health’ alone garnered maximum pageviews in the past 45 days.
Some of the trending topics that were witnessed on Taboola Newsroom were:
- PM Narendra Modi launches Rs 64,180-crore PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to address health issues: 1,50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres are in line to be set up, of which around 79,000 are already functioning
- World Mental Health Day 2022: The theme of World Mental Health Day this year is–‘Make mental health & well-being for all a global priority’
- Festive Season:
The month of October is full of joy and cheer in India as it is the time when several festivals are celebrated. The month started with Durga Puja which culminated with Dussehra and was celebrated across the country with great fervor. This can be quantified by the fact that the news pieces on ‘Dussehra’ saw a 2682% surge in readership in the last 45 days. Other important festivals like Karva Chauth, Dhanteras, and Diwali have also been trending.
Some of the trending topics that were witnessed on Taboola Newsroom were:
- Kolkata Durga Puja enters the world of the Metaverse: This is an initiative of Indian start-up XP&D, its group company Metaform, and another firm, Spatial. The 3D platform created for this purpose will allow visitors to enter a shared social space where people can come together from the comfort of their homes
- Dusshera: Actor Prabhas, who plays Lord Ram in the upcoming film Adipurush, performed the Ravana Dahan. Much to the delight of his fans, they reacted to pictures and videos of the actor from the event, calling him the ‘spitting image of Lord Ram’ – Witnessed a 739% surge in pageviews compared to the last 45 days and peaked during the day of Dussehra.
