---
title: "News apps: Which are searched most?"
description: "Compare the news apps brands and creators work with. Share of Search among Google News, Ground News, Apple News, SmartNews, Feedly and Flipboard, the news apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. 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."
canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/news-apps"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# News apps: Which are searched most?

Compare the news apps brands and creators work with. Share of Search among Google News, Ground News, Apple News, SmartNews, Feedly and Flipboard, the news apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. 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.

## Key facts

- **Competitive set**: News apps
- **Market**: Global
- **Brands compared**: 6
- **Month measured**: Aug 2026
- **Highest Share of Search**: Google News, 94.4%

## Which brand is most popular in search among news apps worldwide?

- In August 2026, Google News was the most searched among news apps worldwide, with an estimated 7.5M branded searches and 94.4% estimated Share of Search within this set.
- Ground News is in 2nd place, 91.3 percentage points behind at 3.1% Share of Search.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google News’ estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide increased from 93.7% to 94.4%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Ground News’ estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide decreased from 3.8% to 3.1%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google News’ estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide peaked at 95.6% in December 2025 and was lowest at 93.3% in March 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Ground News’ estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide peaked at 3.8% in March 2026 and was lowest at 2.6% in June 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Apple News’ estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide peaked at 2.5% in March 2026 and was lowest at 1.4% in December 2025.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Apple News, SmartNews, Feedly and Flipboard held steady: their estimated Share of Search among news apps worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points.

## Compare search popularity between leading brands

- [Google News vs Ground News: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/google-news-vs-ground-news): 94.4% against 3.1% Share of Search.
- [Google News vs Apple News: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/apple-news-vs-google-news): 94.4% against 2.1% Share of Search.
- [Ground News vs Apple News: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/apple-news-vs-ground-news): 3.1% against 2.1% Share of Search.

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

- Estimated monthly branded searches for Feedly worldwide rose 46.2% over 11 measured months, from 1.3K to 1.9K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Ground News worldwide fell 33.2% over 11 measured months, from 368K to 246K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Flipboard worldwide fell 28% over 11 measured months, from 1K to 720 in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for SmartNews worldwide fell 18.3% over 11 measured months, from 40.5K to 33.1K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Google News worldwide fell 18.2% over 11 measured months, from 9.1M to 7.5M in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Apple News worldwide fell 17.9% over 11 measured months, from 201K to 165K in August 2026.

## Share of Search ranking

| Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Google News | 94.4% | 7.5M | 0.0% | Google News |
| 2 | Ground News | 3.1% | 246K | 0.0% | Ground News |
| 3 | Apple News | 2.1% | 165K | +22.2% | Apple News |
| 4 | SmartNews | 0.42% | 33.1K | 0.0% | SmartNews |
| 5 | Feedly | 0.02% | 1.9K | 0.0% | Feedly |
| 6 | Flipboard | <0.01% | 720 | 0.0% | Flipboard |

## Historical estimated branded-search demand

| Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | Google News | 9.1M | 93.7% | 1 |
| Oct 2025 | Ground News | 368K | 3.8% | 2 |
| Oct 2025 | Apple News | 201K | 2.1% | 3 |
| Oct 2025 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Oct 2025 | Feedly | 1.3K | 0.01% | 5 |
| Oct 2025 | Flipboard | 1K | 0.01% | 6 |
| Nov 2025 | Google News | 9.1M | 94.7% | 1 |
| Nov 2025 | Ground News | 301K | 3.1% | 2 |
| Nov 2025 | Apple News | 165K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Nov 2025 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Nov 2025 | Feedly | 1K | 0.01% | 5 |
| Nov 2025 | Flipboard | 1K | 0.01% | 6 |
| Dec 2025 | Google News | 9.1M | 95.6% | 1 |
| Dec 2025 | Ground News | 246K | 2.6% | 2 |
| Dec 2025 | Apple News | 135K | 1.4% | 3 |
| Dec 2025 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Dec 2025 | Feedly | 1K | 0.01% | 5 |
| Dec 2025 | Flipboard | 1K | 0.01% | 6 |
| Jan 2026 | Google News | 9.1M | 93.7% | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | Ground News | 368K | 3.8% | 2 |
| Jan 2026 | Apple News | 201K | 2.1% | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Jan 2026 | Feedly | 1.6K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Jan 2026 | Flipboard | 1.3K | 0.01% | 6 |
| Feb 2026 | Google News | 9.1M | 94.7% | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | Ground News | 301K | 3.1% | 2 |
| Feb 2026 | Apple News | 165K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Feb 2026 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Feb 2026 | Feedly | 1.3K | 0.01% | 5 |
| Feb 2026 | Flipboard | 1.3K | 0.01% | 6 |
| Mar 2026 | Google News | 11.1M | 93.3% | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | Ground News | 450K | 3.8% | 2 |
| Mar 2026 | Apple News | 301K | 2.5% | 3 |
| Mar 2026 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.34% | 4 |
| Mar 2026 | Feedly | 2.9K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Mar 2026 | Flipboard | 1K | <0.01% | 6 |
| Apr 2026 | Google News | 9.1M | 94.7% | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | Ground News | 301K | 3.1% | 2 |
| Apr 2026 | Apple News | 165K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Apr 2026 | SmartNews | 40.5K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Apr 2026 | Feedly | 2.4K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Apr 2026 | Flipboard | 1K | 0.01% | 6 |
| May 2026 | Google News | 7.5M | 94.7% | 1 |
| May 2026 | Ground News | 246K | 3.1% | 2 |
| May 2026 | Apple News | 135K | 1.7% | 3 |
| May 2026 | SmartNews | 33.1K | 0.42% | 4 |
| May 2026 | Feedly | 1.6K | 0.02% | 5 |
| May 2026 | Flipboard | 880 | 0.01% | 6 |
| Jun 2026 | Google News | 9.1M | 95.3% | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | Ground News | 246K | 2.6% | 2 |
| Jun 2026 | Apple News | 165K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Jun 2026 | SmartNews | 33.1K | 0.35% | 4 |
| Jun 2026 | Feedly | 1.9K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Jun 2026 | Flipboard | 880 | <0.01% | 6 |
| Jul 2026 | Google News | 7.5M | 94.7% | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | Ground News | 246K | 3.1% | 2 |
| Jul 2026 | Apple News | 135K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Jul 2026 | SmartNews | 33.1K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Jul 2026 | Feedly | 1.9K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Jul 2026 | Flipboard | 720 | <0.01% | 6 |
| Aug 2026 | Google News | 7.5M | 94.4% | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | Ground News | 246K | 3.1% | 2 |
| Aug 2026 | Apple News | 165K | 2.1% | 3 |
| Aug 2026 | SmartNews | 33.1K | 0.42% | 4 |
| Aug 2026 | Feedly | 1.9K | 0.02% | 5 |
| Aug 2026 | Flipboard | 720 | <0.01% | 6 |
| Sep 2026 | Apple News | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Feedly | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Flipboard | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Google News | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Ground News | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | SmartNews | — | — | — |

## What is being compared

- **Apple News**: Measured on the search term “apple news”.
- **Feedly**: Measured on the search term “feedly rss”.
- **Flipboard**: Measured on the search term “flipboard news”.
- **Google News**: Measured on the search term “google news”.
- **Ground News**: Measured on the search term “ground news”.
- **SmartNews**: Measured on the search term “smart news”.

- [Apple News](/demand/global-en/brands/apple-news)
- [Feedly](/demand/global-en/brands/feedly)
- [Flipboard](/demand/global-en/brands/flipboard)
- [Google News](/demand/global-en/brands/google-news)
- [Ground News](/demand/global-en/brands/ground-news)
- [SmartNews](/demand/global-en/brands/smartnews)

## Methodology

- [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which brand is most popular in search among news apps worldwide?

In August 2026, Google News was the most searched among news apps worldwide, with an estimated 7.5M branded searches and 94.4% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "News apps: Which are searched most?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/news-apps

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/news-apps. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.