Women outnumber men when it comes to Google Search in India

New Delhi: When it comes to Google Search, more and more Indian women across age groups are using the search engine -- outnumbering men by a whooping margin -- on issues ranging from beauty and fashion to health and fitness, the company has revealed.

Middle-aged women in the age group of 35-44 years are spending more time on Google Search, outnumbering the growth of middle-aged men by a whopping 123 percent, the company has revealed.

This is year-on-year (YoY) growth measured in terms of “time spent in minutes” on Google Search, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, citing data sourced from comScore.

“The internet is playing an incredibly important role in changing the lives of women in India. It is great to see how women are taking to the internet in greater numbers and increasing their time spent, even outpacing the time spent by men,” Google said.

Interestingly, the search engine also recorded a significant uptake in search usage by upper middle-aged women (above 55 years).

In 2015, this category outgrew the younger women user base (age group of 15-24 years) and working women (age group of 24-35 years).

In terms of growth in “search minutes,” women outnumber men in younger age-groups as well. In the 15-24 age-group time spent by women grew by 110 percent as compared to 104 percent by men.

In the 25-34 age-group, time spent by women grew by 108 percent as compared to 98 percent by men.

Google also revealed that there are more mothers using Google search when compared to fathers. One in three (33 percent) women who are mothers are on the web while only one in four fathers are on the web.

“This trend is likely to continue growing as India’s vast rural population of over 800 million comes online and experiences the power of the internet,” the company said.

Interestingly, this is not just limited to the fashion and beauty segments.

Women are outpacing men on searches in their fascination for food being three times higher, same is the case with entertainment (family television) and finally two times higher interest even around health and fitness.

India currently holds the world’s third largest internet user base after China and the US with approximately 325 million active users.