It’s time for Nielsen to break down the data it collected throughout the year, and once again, we’re seeing Android dominate the mobile space as of the end of October 2012. Android had 52% market share at the end of Q3, which places it a significant 17 percentage points ahead of its closest competitor, iOS. BlackBerry managed to secure a third place ranking with 7%, while Windows Phone was only able to boast 2% market share at end of Q3.
That isn’t bad for Android at all, and it speaks volumes to the popularity of various Android handsets, as Q3 was when iPhone 5 mania was in full swing. It was a good year for Google in other sectors too, as Nielsen’s yearly data (which spans from January to October 2012) shows that the big G was the top-ranking web brand of the year with 172,649,000 average unique monthly visitors. Facebook was a close second with an average of 152,996,000 unique monthly visitors, while Yahoo rounded out the top three by coming in at 141,579,000 unique monthly visitors.
Just as well, YouTube came in a clear first when it comes to Nielsen’s “Top 10 U.S. Online Destinations for Video of 2012.” YouTube was unsurprisingly able to boast more unique monthly viewers than Yahoo and VEVO – which came in at second and third place respectively – combined. That’s excellent, and with YouTube’s numbers, don’t be surprised to see it at the top of the list for years to come.
Finally we come to the top Android apps of 2012, the results of which have Google Search, Gmail, and Facebook in a pretty fierce battle for the top spot. Google Search ultimately came out on top, with Gmail settling at second and Facebook landing at third. It seems that the only other Internet mainstay that can challenge Google in Nielsen’s results is Facebook, so executives at Google headquarters have a lot to smile about.
