It’s the end of the Iranian month of Aban (Nov. 21) and that calls for our roundup of the trending search requests in Iran via Google’s Trend Service.
First up this month is Sadaf Taherian, an Iranian actress who is our leading breakout term, with over 4000% of searches in the country looking for news about her. Taherian is a leading Iranian television actress who caused a storm for recently posting her revealing photos and triggering the ire of many. She has since been banned from acting in theater and on screen.
Iranian laws deem hijab mandatory for women in public. The leading city seeking information about her was the holy city of Qom.
In second place this month is “Fitileh” written in Persian script. It was a popular Iranian children’s program that used to air on the national television and the trio is now giving performances across the country. It is also our next most popular term this month for jokes found offensive by people from a particular region.
Fitileh has been accused of mockery, as a satirical performance depicted a boy brushing his teeth with a toilet brush and complaining of bad breath. Part of the program was in Persian, but some dialogues were said with an ethnic accent.
In third place this month is another actress who had posted pictures of herself without hijab. This got Chakameh Chaman-Mah in trouble with authorities. Once again, the central city of Qom led the search for details about this actress.
In fourth place this month is “Vam Khodro” written in Persian, meaning “Auto Loan”. This month, the Iranian government, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iran, offered loans to car buyers worth 250 million rials ($7,300 at market rate) payable over a maximum of four years to help automakers offload their cars.
The search term was most searched in the provinces of East Azarbaijan and Isfahan, with Tehran following them. Searches for this term peaked on November 9 when the loan went into effect. The loan only lasted six days, as applications exceeded the ceiling of 110,000 loans set by CBI.
“Hava Shenasi” meaning “Weather Forecast” turns up in fifth place this month with searches increasing by 190%. Surprisingly it wasn’t wet and wintry Tehran that led in search terms, but Khuzestan, Bushehr and Hormozgan provinces down south because of the floods that claimed some lives.
In sixth place this month was Ali Zia, an Iranian TV host, who got into hot water for his comments on a recent match between Esteqlal and another top rival team Perspolis. He has subsequently apologized for his comments and has been temporarily banned from appearing on television. The northern province of Gilan led the searches for the host, followed by Isfahan at nine points behind.
The football theme continues this month with the Persian Gulf Pro League team “Esteqlal” coming in seventh place. This could be because two teams with Esteqlal in their name topped the premier league table this month.
Coincidently, Esteqlal Tehran F.C. played a game against Foolad in Ahvaz. Predictably, Khuzestan province is searching for the team the most with Mazadaran not far behind with 10 points less.
Religious events were also on the chart this month, as we are in the midst of the Islamic mourning month of Murraham with people holding commemorative ceremonies and paying tribute to the great sacrifice of Imam Hussein (PBUH). Qom was at the forefront of making search requests for this term.
Banking makes the top 10 search results, with “Bank Mellat” coming in ninth place this Iranian month. It is one of the largest domestic banks with branches globally. The bank is also currently claiming damages in Britain’s High Court for incurring losses when it came under sanctions regulations related to Iran’s nuclear program, a claim denied by the bank.
Golestan province in the north led this search term with the central Markazi province coming in second.
“Iran Khodro” makes it into the search results written in Persian script, with searches for Iran’s largest carmaker rising 60% over the past 30 days. West Azarbaijan Province made the most searches, followed by Hormozgan and Kerman provinces.
Other searches related to Iran Khodro include “Loan Iran Khodro” written in Persian and its variations.
