Brandwave

Navigation apps:Which brands are most popular in search?

In August 2026, Google Maps was the most searched among navigation apps worldwide, with an estimated 185M branded searches and 97.7% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.

Share of Search, August 2026
  1. Google Maps97.7%
  2. Waze1.2%
  3. MapQuest0.64%
  4. Apple Maps0.36%
  5. TomTom0.16%

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Share of SearchLeaderboard

Compare the apps people navigate with. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time.

Share of Search among navigation apps worldwide, by month

Share of Search by month for Google Maps. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of search table
MonthGoogle MapsWazeMapQuestApple MapsTomTom
Oct 202597.7%1.2%0.64%0.36%0.16%
Nov 202597.8%1.2%0.53%0.36%0.13%
Dec 202597.5%1.4%0.65%0.29%0.16%
Jan 202697.8%1.2%0.53%0.36%0.13%
Feb 202697.2%1.4%0.64%0.53%0.16%
Mar 202697.6%1.2%0.64%0.43%0.13%
Apr 202697.7%1.2%0.64%0.36%0.16%
May 202697.8%1.2%0.53%0.36%0.16%
Jun 202697.8%1.2%0.53%0.36%0.13%
Jul 202697.6%1.2%0.53%0.29%0.43%
Aug 202697.7%1.2%0.64%0.36%0.16%
Sep 2026—————

This month’s ranking, August 2026

  1. 1.Google Maps

    97.7%

    Held 1st. 185M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  2. 2.Waze

    1.2%

    Held 2nd. 2.2M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  3. 3.MapQuest

    0.64%

    Held 3rd. 1.2M estimated branded searches, +22% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  4. 4.Apple Maps

    0.36%

    Moved from 5th to 4th. 673K estimated branded searches, +22.4% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  5. 5.TomTom

    0.16%

    Moved from 4th to 5th. 301K estimated branded searches, -63.4% vs prior month. Share -0.3 points.

Compare search popularity between leading brands

Which brand is most popular in search among navigation apps worldwide?

In August 2026, Google Maps was the most searched among navigation apps worldwide, with an estimated 185M branded searches and 97.7% estimated Share of Search within this set. Waze is in 2nd place, 96.5 percentage points behind at 1.2% Share of Search.

Global navigation apps, last 12 months ending September 2026
BrandShare of SearchPeakLowRank
Google Maps97.7%97.8%Nov 202597.2%Feb 20261st
Waze1.2%1.4%Dec 20251.2%Jul 20262nd
MapQuest0.64%0.65%Dec 20250.53%Jul 20263rd
Apple Maps0.36%0.53%Feb 20260.29%Jul 20264th
TomTom0.16%0.43%Jul 20260.13%Mar 20265th

Each finding as a sentence

  • Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google Maps, Waze, MapQuest, Apple Maps and TomTom held steady: their estimated Share of Search among navigation apps worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points.

How did search popularity change for navigation apps worldwide in August 2026?

  1. In August 2026, Apple Maps rose from 5th to 4th among navigation apps worldwide.

  2. In August 2026, TomTom fell from 4th to 5th among navigation apps worldwide.

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