Yahoo names ‘ cow’ as Personality of 2015

The humble cow was named as “Personality of the Year”, trumping other high- profile contenders in Yahoo’s 2015 India “Year in Review” (YIR) list.

“It started with the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on sale of beef — which led to massive debates online and offline, spiralling into the ‘ beef controversy’,” Yahoo said. Fuelled further by the Dadri mob lynching, the cow was at the centre of discussions on “intolerance”, sparking the “award wapsi” campaign, stalling Parliament proceedings at one point, it said.

The YIR sees the year’s top trends, happenings, events that caught the imagination of Indian Internet users. In its eighth year, this review is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, shared and recommended most on Yahoo. It factors in absolute volume and growth from previous periods to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface.

Yahoo said politics remained an all- consuming passion through the year in 2015. “With high- profile elections in Bihar and New Delhi, chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal were among the Top Newsmakers of the Year,” said the Internet giant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his run from 2014 and remained one of the top newsmakers this year too.

The Yahoo Year in Review shows an analyse of users’ interest patterns on what they searched for, read, and shared.

PM Modi also remained the “Most Searched Politician” this year. “The list also featured HRD minister Smriti Irani, who was in the news often for her vocal stand on issues and controversies involving her,” said Yahoo. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also makes it to the list for news surrounding Sunanda Pushkar’s death and his comments on “intolerance” in India. US President Barack Obama’s India visit, AAP’s landslide victory among the top 10 “Political Moments of the Year”.