--- title: "Messenger vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand?" description: "Which is more popular in search, Messenger or WhatsApp? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Messaging apps set in New Zealand. 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/nz/compare/messenger-vs-whatsapp" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Messenger vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand? Which is more popular in search, Messenger or WhatsApp? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Messaging apps set in New Zealand. 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 - **Compared**: Messenger and WhatsApp - **Competitive set**: Messaging apps - **Market**: New Zealand - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Messenger Share of Search**: 1.8% - **WhatsApp Share of Search**: 58% ## Which is more popular in search, Messenger or WhatsApp? - In August 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Messenger among messaging apps in New Zealand. WhatsApp was estimated to have 194K branded searches compared to Messenger’s 5.9K, and held a 58% Share of Search versus Messenger’s 1.8%. - WhatsApp was ahead of Messenger in every measured month of the 11 months ending August 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Messenger’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand moved from 1.7% to 1.8%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 5.8K to 5.9K. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, WhatsApp’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand moved from 51.3% to 58%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 174K to 194K. ## How did search popularity change for New Zealand messaging apps in August 2026? - In August 2026, WhatsApp gained estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand, from 55.4% to 58%. ## Month by month | Month | Messenger estimated searches | Messenger Share of Search | Messenger rank | WhatsApp estimated searches | WhatsApp Share of Search | WhatsApp rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 5.8K | 1.7% | 4 | 174K | 51.3% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | 5.7K | 1.8% | 4 | 161K | 49.8% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | 5.9K | 2.2% | 4 | 134K | 49% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | 5.8K | 1.9% | 4 | 160K | 53.1% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | 4.9K | 1.6% | 4 | 161K | 53.8% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | 5.9K | 1.6% | 4 | 195K | 53.7% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | 5.8K | 1.7% | 4 | 174K | 51.4% | 1 | | May 2026 | 5.1K | 1.4% | 4 | 194K | 54% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | 6K | 1.8% | 4 | 194K | 58% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | 6K | 1.9% | 4 | 174K | 55.4% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | 5.9K | 1.8% | 4 | 194K | 58% | 1 | | Sep 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Messenger’s and WhatsApp’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Messenger**: Measured on the search terms “deleted messages messenger”, “disappearing messages messenger”, “fb messenger app”, “fb messenger app download”, “messenger app”, “messenger app for desktop”, “messenger chat” and “messenger messages”, summed into one figure. - **WhatsApp**: Measured on the search terms “download whatsapp for windows”, “jibi whatsapp”, “my whatsapp”, “whatsapp”, “whatsapp app”, “whatsapp chat”, “whatsapp com”, “whatsapp com web”, “whatsapp download whatsapp download whatsapp”, “whatsapp messages”, “whatsapp near me”, “whatsapp new zealand”, “whatsapp nz”, “whatsapp online”, “whatsapp web”, “whatsapp web app”, “whatsapp web download”, “whatsapp web online”, “whatsapp windows”, “ww whatsapp web”, “www whatsapp app com” and “www whatsapp com web”, summed into one figure. - [Messenger profile](/demand/nz/brands/messenger) - [WhatsApp profile](/demand/nz/brands/whatsapp) - [All messaging apps in New Zealand](/demand/nz/categories/nz-messaging-apps): The set both shares are measured inside, 6 brands. ## 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 is more popular in search, Messenger or WhatsApp? In August 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Messenger among messaging apps in New Zealand. WhatsApp was estimated to have 194K branded searches compared to Messenger’s 5.9K, and held a 58% Share of Search versus Messenger’s 1.8%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Messenger vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/messenger-vs-whatsapp This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/messenger-vs-whatsapp. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.