Another place where Google and Facebook rule

When it comes to smartphone apps, it appears Facebook and Google rule our worlds, just as they do for advertising.

Those two companies combined to claim the eight most-used smartphone apps of the year, led by Facebook with 126.70 million average unique monthly users, according to Nielsen.

Facebook Messenger was the No. 3 app of the year with an average of 96.44 million unique users, while Facebook-owned Instagram was No. 8 at 55.41 million monthly users.

Meanwhile, Google claimed five apps in the top eight for the year, led by YouTube at No. 2 with 97.63 million monthly users.

Other Google apps making the list were Google Search (No. 4, 95.04 million users), Google Play (No. 5, 89.71 million), Google Maps (No. 6, 87.78 million) and Gmail (No. 7, 75.11 million).

Meanwhile, Apple claimed the remaining two apps in the top 10, with Apple Music at No. 9 with 54.55 million average monthly users and its Maps app No. 10 at 46.41 million users.

Android is currently the most common mobile operating system in the U.S., with a 52.6 percent share of the market in third quarter. Apple’s iOS is No. 2 with a 42.7 percent share, with Microsoft a distant third at 2.8 percent.

Tags: facebook, google, new media, mobile, apps, top apps, top apps of 2015