In an year-in-review conducted by entertainment portal Yahoo India, Anna emerged clear winner in the newsmaker category for 2011 followed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
"Celebs who routinely vie for top billing on the search charts were upstaged by Anna Hazare, who swayed the public with his fight against corruption — a battle that helped him emerge as the top newsmaker in India.
"His constant challenge to the highest government authorities, and his 288-hour fast at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi made him the face of India's battle against corruption," the company said in a statement.
Among other newsmaker of the year were Indian skipper M S Dhoni, former chief minister of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa, BJP leader L K Advani, anti-graft activist and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi, al-Qaida head Osama Bin Laden, Kaun Banega Crorepati winner Sushil Kumar and the movie 'Iron Lady'.
In top searches category too, Anna bagged the top spot followed by master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Katrina Kaif.
Interestingly, Lokpal Bill was the most sought after word for internet users and Cricket World Cup 2011 was top event of the year.
Bollywood also made news for the stars' personal lives, mainly star babies. Actor Aishwarya Bachchan, Konkona Sen and Lara Dutta’s pregnancies were followed by netizens.
Apart from stars' babies, breakups such as Priyanka-Shahid and John-Bipasha also attracted huge number of users.
Some bizzare stories also generated user interest; PETA launching a porn site, a woman giving birth to her grandchild and that kissing can cause cavities.
UK's royal wedding, Kolaveri, Poschim Bongo (the new name for West Bengal) and DK Bose emerged as the hottest buzzwords.
Controversies found their way into the report in the listings for the Facepalm category with Miss India Universe Vasuki Sunkavalli’s alleged plagiarism, Rakhi Sawant’s marriage aspirations, and Kiran Bedi's travelling economy making their way into the charts.