Leading Brands in Australia’s Business & Productivity Software Category: Q4 2024 Analysis

Introduction

In the dynamic landscape of business and productivity software, a few key players have consistently demonstrated robust performance in Australia. As Q4 2024 unfolded, Microsoft 365 (Office 365), Gmail, and Google Workspace emerged as leaders, maintaining a significant monthly deduplicated audience across their websites and apps. This article delves into each brand's performance, highlighting trends and insights from Q3 to Q4 2024, based on comprehensive data provided by Sensor Tower.

Microsoft 365 (Office 365)

Microsoft 365's digital ecosystem includes notable platforms such as forms.office.com, microsoft365.com, office.com, and its suite of applications including Microsoft Word and Microsoft Teams.

• Audience Trends: The monthly deduplicated audience remained strong across all platforms. Notably, office.com saw visits exceeding 200M in October, showcasing stable interest. However, December marked a seasonal dip, typical in the industry.

• App Engagement: Microsoft Outlook led in app usage with over 5M monthly active users. Microsoft Teams also maintained a robust monthly active user base, with a slight decline in December, aligning with year-end trends.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Microsoft increased monthly advertising expenditure significantly in Q3 with peaks in September, focusing on platforms like Facebook and YouTube. Impressions reached over 7M in September, indicating effective campaign reach.

Gmail

Gmail's presence is predominantly through mail.google.com and the Gmail - Email by Google app.

• Audience Trends: Gmail maintained a stable web audience with visits surpassing 700M in October. The monthly deduplicated audience remained above 15M, highlighting its indispensable role in daily communication.

• App Engagement: The Gmail app consistently attracted over 7.5M monthly active users, showcasing its critical role in mobile communication.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Notably, Gmail did not allocate budget towards advertising in this category, relying on organic growth and user engagement.

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)

Google Workspace integrates platforms like calendar.google.com, docs.google.com, and meet.google.com, alongside apps such as Google Docs and Google Calendar.

• Audience Trends: Google Docs experienced a notable spike in visits to over 450M in October, reflecting increased document collaboration. Calendar usage remained stable, aligning with consistent app engagement.

• App Engagement: Google Calendar led with over 2.3M monthly active users. Google Docs also saw a strong monthly active user base, though slightly dipping in December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Google Workspace's advertising efforts were minimal, with some activity on desktop video channels in August and September, resulting in modest impressions.

Conclusion

The business and productivity software category in Australia remains dominated by Microsoft 365, Gmail, and Google Workspace. Each brand has leveraged its unique strengths to engage users across web and app platforms, with varied advertising strategies. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights provide a comprehensive view into these trends, emphasizing the importance of cross-platform user behavior analysis. For more detailed insights, explore Sensor Tower's Web Insights and App Performance Insights.