Why is Google suppressing report for Pakistan?
By Bala Shah

Tech giant Google is the leading search engine in the world and it has about 80 % of the market share in India. Other Google applications like Email, Maps, Orkut etc are equally popular in the sub-continent.  Google has the same market share in Pakistan. So, why has the recent Google survey not released results for Pakistan?

At the end of every year, Google releases the Google Zeitgeist which it describes as “we examine the billions of queries that people around the world have typed into Google search to discover the zeitgeist—the spirit of the times. As we welcome the New Year, we hope you enjoy this glimpse at the past.”

The Google Zeitgeist for India had an interesting foreword. Global economic downturn and local implications where clearly on India's mind as Budget 2009 and Satyam share price emerged as the fastest rising queries on Google. India mourned the untimely demise of the King of Pop and looked for the latest buzz word Twitter but without impacting the good old Indian railways and Gmail which emerged as the most popular online destinations. Young politicians like Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot emerged as the new face of political leadership in the country. With Corporate woes and recession news, more people looked for ways to meditate and concentrate. Romance scored over action, fantasy and drama – with Love Aaj kal emerging as the most searched movie of the year, followed by Harry Potter and Slumdog Millionaire. Google Zeitgeist 2009 is a real reflection of the spirit of the nation – which saw all the ups and downs and yet remained true to its love for entertainment, peace and hope!

The chart above details what Indians looked for in Google.  Among celebrities, we wanted to known most about Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan from Google.  Most popular movie was Love Aaj Kal. We wanted to learn ‘How to kiss’ and also ‘How to hack’.

One thing I cannot understand is the mystery on why there are so many Indians still searching for the highly regarded late Air Force Officer and Congress politician Rajesh Pilot on Google. This is especially creditable to Mr. Rajesh Pilot, as apart from Indira Gandhi, he is the only expired politician we want to know most about.   Apparently, more Indians wanted to know about Sarah Palin than about Obama. His equally distinguished son Sachin Pilot who is a serving Minister is also on the Google list. 

Google, as always, has produced a very comprehensive list, which is enlightening and would be the subject of much media coverage and debates in offices and homes. 

I went to the Google website to find out how our neighbour Pakistan is faring.  Pakistan has a population of 200 million and its scientists and techies have the same high quality skills as India.  Pakistan has cutting edge nuclear technology and is highly wired with about half its citizens (approx 95 million) owning mobile phones.  Despite the recession, it has a growing IT/BPO industry.  Pakistanis, like Indians, have settled in large numbers in US and Europe and in that sense it is a connected country. And whatever happens there affects India.  And vice versa.

But while there is Google Zeitgeist for Panama, Peru and Philippines, there is none for Pakistan.  You can check it yourself by going to ‘More Regions’ in this link to the Google website.

Google dominates the market in Pakistan. Any idea on why the searches being done by Pakistanis are not publicly released by Google?