Leading Software Brands in Australia: Q4 2024 Insights

Introduction

In the bustling landscape of software applications and digital tools, some brands have emerged as leaders in Australia, particularly in Q4 2024. This article delves into the performance of Microsoft 365, Google Search, and Gmail, exploring their audience trends, app engagement, and advertising strategies. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data provides a unique perspective on these brands' cross-platform user behavior, offering insights into both web and app ecosystems.

Microsoft 365 (Office 365)

Microsoft 365's digital ecosystem is vast, including websites such as forms.office.com, microsoft365.com, office.com, onedrive.com, onenote.com, outlook.com, outlook.office.com, outlook.office365.com, and teams.microsoft.com. The brand also offers several applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Teams.

• Audience Trends: Throughout Q4 2024, the monthly deduplicated audience for Microsoft 365 remained consistently above 2.7M. The website office.com showed significant traffic, with visits per unique visitor peaking at 52 in October. On the app side, Microsoft Outlook maintained a stable monthly active user base, with active users hovering around 5M.

• App Engagement: Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office apps saw steady engagement, with monthly active users consistently around 290K and 300K respectively. Microsoft Teams experienced a slight decline, with monthly active users dropping to approximately 1.7M by December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Microsoft focused heavily on Facebook, with monthly ad spend peaking in September at over $24K, delivering impressions exceeding 5M.

Google Search

Google's presence in Australia is highlighted through its platforms google.com and lens.google, along with apps like Google and Google Lens.

• Audience Trends: Google.com remained a top destination, with unique visits exceeding 16M monthly throughout Q4. Interestingly, Google Lens's website saw an increase in visits, particularly in October, reaching 312K.

• App Engagement: The Google app maintained a robust monthly active user count, rising steadily to over 5.5M by December. Google Lens app maintained stable engagement with a slight increase in December.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Google’s monthly ad spend was minimal, with notable activity on Reddit, peaking in December with impressions close to 3.5K.

Gmail

The Gmail ecosystem, represented by mail.google.com and the Gmail - Email by Google app, continues to be a strong player in the software category.

• Audience Trends: Mail.google.com consistently attracted over 6M unique visitors monthly with visits per user around 64. The monthly deduplicated audience remained stable above 15M throughout Q4.

• App Engagement: The Gmail app saw a slight increase in monthly active users, peaking at approximately 7.7M in November, reflecting its strong mobile presence.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Gmail did not have significant monthly ad spend during this period, focusing on organic growth.

Conclusion

The Q4 2024 analysis highlights Microsoft 365, Google Search, and Gmail as leading software brands in Australia, each demonstrating unique strengths across web and app platforms. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights reveal the intricacies of user engagement and advertising strategies, offering a comprehensive view of the digital landscape. For more detailed insights, Sensor Tower's Web Insights and Pathmatics provide essential tools for understanding market dynamics.