The Most Used Location Based Apps in Canada

By On · 9 Comments · In All, Location Based Marketing (LBM & LBS)

The Question

I guess it became my writing style to start with a question.

This time everything started with this post : Top 5 Location-Based Services [MASHABLE AWARDS] and my question was: How about Canada? and what is the most used or at least downloaded LBS iphone app?

According to Wikipedia “A location-based service (LBS) is an information and entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device “. In this post, I have covered only the LBS apps and I have tried to find out the most popular one.

Also, a survey From Pew Internet showed that only:

  • 4% of online Americans use location-based services
  • 7% of adults who go online with their mobile phone use a location-based service.
  • 8% of online adults ages 18-29 use location-based services, significantly more than online adults in any other age group.

    • The Sources

    As mobile info is not that open, I have used the 3 websites below to extract a trend.

    My SourcesDescription
    Chomp.comApp discovery engine
    BDNooz - LinksLBS apps Directory
    PositionAppProvides an App ranking by country

    The Findings | Infographic

  • On the 60 Studied apps, 15% are not accessible from Canada.
  • On the 51 apps that we have access to in Canada, only 24 (40%) are ranked among the top 300 apps according to Positionapp.com. The rest, you can call them “the invisible apps” !

    • Quick Notes

    Even though I’m a YPG employee, I have no problem claiming that YPG App is one of the most used app in Canada. My surprise was that Foursquare and Gowalla are far from becoming a mainstream application. Also, it’s surprising to notice the absence of a strong loyalty/rewards app like Shopkick. Finally, Groupon and Living Social are showing how strong the Group Buying is in Canada.

    For the rest you have the details below!

    Click to Enlarge

    The Details

    Discover the 60 LBS apps

    Apps. NameWebsiteChomp.com ReviewChomp Score (%)CategoryAvail. in CanadaRanking in Canada (vs cat.)
    YPG Canadahttp://yp.cahttp://chomp.com/a/eU1/canadian-yellowpages.ca-business-and-people-finder66%ProductivityYES1
    Facebook Placeshttp://www.facebook.com/places/http://chomp.com/a/gzM/facebook95%Social NetworkingYES2
    Trapsterhttp://www.trapster.comhttp://chomp.com/a/hSq/trapster-speed-trap-alerts-now-with-caravan-and-patrol71%NavigationYES3
    Grouponhttp://groupon.comhttp://chomp.com/a/PE8/groupon77%LifestyleYES4
    Urbanspoonhttp://www.urbanspoon.com/http://chomp.com/a/n49/urbanspoon78%TravelYES5
    Yelphttp://yelp.cahttp://chomp.com/a/n89/yelp81%TravelYES6
    Foodspottinghttp://www.foodspotting.com/#/http://chomp.com/a/HSv/foodspotting81%TravelYES11
    around mehttp://www.tweakersoft.com/aroundme.htmlhttp://chomp.com/a/bIN/aroundme79%LifestyleYES12
    Wazehttp://www.waze.com/http://chomp.com/a/cE9/waze-social-gps-navigation-traffic-and-road-reports80%NavigationYES19
    Living socialhttp://livingsocial.cahttp://chomp.com/a/wua/livingsocial68%LifestyleYES31
    tripithttp://www.trapster.comhttp://chomp.com/a/mkX/tripit-travel-organizer66%TravelYES36
    FourSquarehttp://foursquare.com/http://chomp.com/a/glv/foursquare68%Social NetworkingYES38
    Skouthttp://www.skout.comhttp://chomp.com/a/f2A/skout0%Social NetworkingYES40
    Google Latitudehttp://www.google.com/latitude/intro.htmlhttp://chomp.com/a/1zC6/google-latitude0%Social NetworkingYES42
    Layarhttp://www.layar.com/http://chomp.com/a/cdx/layar-reality-browser-augmented-reality-software61%ReferenceYES98
    Gowallahttp://gowalla.com/http://chomp.com/a/fok/gowalla67%Social NetworkingYES141
    Friend Mapperhttp://www.amigomapper.comhttp://chomp.com/a/teO/friend-mapper-free0%NavigationYES152
    urbanizerhttp://www.urbanizer.com/http://chomp.com/a/YEj/urbanizer50%LifestyleYES157
    SCVNGRhttp://scvngr.com/http://chomp.com/a/jdC/scvngr0%Social NetworkingYES187
    Junaiohttp://www.junaio.com/http://chomp.com/a/pKQ/junaio0%NavigationYES243
    Friends Around Mehttp://friendsaround.com/http://chomp.com/a/Xcb/friends-around-me50%Social NetworkingYES260
    Bionic eyehttp://www.bionic-eye.com/http://chomp.com/a/vJl/bionic-eye-canada0%NavigationYES260
    MyTownhttp://www.booyah.com/products/mytown/http://chomp.com/a/vCt/mytown82%GamingYES287
    Glympsehttp://www.glympse.com/http://chomp.com/a/f6U/glympse-location-sharing-made-simple73%Social NetworkingYES289
    Centrlhttp://centrl.com/http://chomp.com/a/f7w/centrl0%Social NetworkingNO*
    CheckPointshttp://www.checkpoints.comhttp://chomp.com/a/1sLf/checkpoints50%Social NetworkingNO*
    iPlinghttp://www.iPling.comhttp://chomp.com/a/sMA/ipling0%Social NetworkingNO*
    loopthttp://www.loopt.comhttp://chomp.com/a/gBK/loopt55%Social NetworkingNO*
    AKA-AKIhttp://www.aka-aki.com/http://chomp.com/a/f5c/aka-aki-new-people-nearby44%Social NetworkingYES*
    Bliinhttp://www.bliin.comhttp://chomp.com/a/gB4/bliin0%Social NetworkingYES*
    Brightkitehttp://brightkite.com/http://chomp.com/a/ffe/brightkite51%Social NetworkingYES*
    Buddymobhttp://www.buddymob.com/http://chomp.com/a/y90/buddymob50%Social NetworkingYES*
    Nowherehttp://www.nowhere.de/http://chomp.com/a/1vg1/nowhere-app0%LifestyleNO*
    BuddyWayhttp://www.buddyway.com/http://chomp.com/a/1iYG/buddyway0%Share your trips with friendsYES*
    buzzdhttp://buzzd.com/http://chomp.com/a/7f7/buzzd0%City Guide and Social NetworkYES*
    Carticipatehttp://www.carticipate.com/http://chomp.com/a/gre/carticipate0%Social transportationYES*
    Pocket lifehttp://www.pocketlife.comhttp://chomp.com/a/g2k/pocket-life0%Social NetworkingNO*
    CitySourcedhttp://www.citysourced.comhttp://chomp.com/a/sWH/citysourced25%Utilities, ProductivityYES*
    DeHoodhttp://www.dehood.com/http://chomp.com/a/13Lb/dehood42%Neighborhood AppYES*
    FriendTickerhttp://en.beta.friendticker.com/http://chomp.com/a/g27/friendticker0%LifestyleYES*
    Geospothttp://www.geospot.com/http://chomp.com/a/c21/geospots0%NavigationYES*
    GyPSiihttp://www.GyPSii.com/http://chomp.com/a/g9Q/gypsii50%Social NetworkingYES*
    Locaccinohttp://locaccino.org/http://chomp.com/a/1qTN/locaccino0%Social NetworkingYES*
    LOCRhttp://www.locr.comhttp://chomp.com/a/1nKS/locrattes0%Social NetworkingYES*
    mapmehttp://www.mapme.comhttp://chomp.com/a/N97/mapme0%Social NetworkingYES*
    wherehttp://www.where.comhttp://chomp.com/a/eJ5/where77%NavigationNO (iphone)*
    whrrlhttp://www.whrrl.comhttp://chomp.com/a/glK/whrrl69%LifestyleNO*
    meetMoihttp://www.meetmoi.comhttp://chomp.com/a/soY/meetmoi-location-based-mobile-dating0%DatingYES*
    Shopkickhttp://www.shopkick.com/http://chomp.com/a/1jaS/shopkick-deals-and-rewards56%LifestyleNO*
    mizoonhttp://www.mizoon.com/http://chomp.com/a/1HqR/mizoon0%Social NetworkingYES*
    MyGeoDiaryhttp://www.mygeodiary.comhttp://chomp.com/a/j7G/mygeodiary33%TravelYES*
    Nulazhttp://www.nulaz.net/http://chomp.com/a/fHX/nulaz-app0%Social NetworkingYES*
    Wizzpershttp://www.ovalpath.com/http://chomp.com/a/1bmn/wizzpers0%LifestyleYES*
    PlacePophttp://www.placepop.com/http://chomp.com/a/HSy/placepop77%LifestyleYES*
    Rally Uphttp://www.getupandrally.com/http://chomp.com/a/yme/rally-up0%Utilities, ProductivitYES*
    Rummblehttp://www.Rummble.comhttp://chomp.com/a/bGL/rummble0%Social NetworkingYES*
    Snikkrhttp://www2.snikkr.net/http://chomp.com/a/Aoa/snikkr0%Social NetworkingYES*
    Top Guesthttp://www.topguest.com/http://chomp.com/a/1xUd/topguest0%LifestyleYES*
    footfeedhttp://footfeed.com/http://chomp.com/a/1a0j/footfeed100%Social NetworkingYES*
    Triout 2http://trioutnc.com/http://chomp.com/a/DWv/triout-2-with-facebook-foursquare-gowalla-twitter-and-more66%Social NetworkingYES*

    Useful Links | White Papers and Posts

  • Beyond the Check-In: Best Practices for Location-Based Marketing
  • Location is the New Frontier in Digital Marketing
  • Check-in location services used by 4 percent of online Americans
  • Beyond the Check-in: How Location Services Can Now Fight Identity Theft

    • What is your best Canadian LBS App. ?

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    • http://twitter.com/stefan_pohl Stefan Pohl

      Perhaps you also want to try Dailyplaces at http://dailyplaces.com. The claim of Dailyplaces is “Your friends know where to go” and it is a mobile recommendation platform for places. The platform allows you to:

      - Search for places nearby
      - Check in to favorite places to show your friends where you are
      - Create tips, rate places and tell your friends what you like
      - Follow friends to see what they are doing where
      - Play the Dailyplaces game and become the top of the leader board

      • http://twitter.com/mkahlain Mohamed Kahlain

        Cool, always nice to discover new services

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_REDAOTAMOMNU26FQCKQQGDC3EU Sanity Check

      So just to be clear
      1. Is this based on “Usage” or download?
      2. The actual ranking is based “against category”. Does that mean Facebook could actually be more used, since it’s in a different and maybe more competitive category?

      • http://twitter.com/mkahlain Mohamed Kahlain

        Excellent Questions :

        This post don’t try to create a specific ranking more than to give a trend. But I agree with your questions and the weakness of the methodology.

        1 – Agree that my title is a little aggressive : The ranking is basically downloads more than usage. I assumed that if you showed in the top 20 of the most downloaded apps it’s a sign that the apps is “Used”.

        2-Absolutely! the ranking is an important variable vs the Category. As you can notice in the table, I specified “Ranking vs Cat.” Facebook can be more used than YPG, agree. But think about facebook places vs YPG. As I specified on the definition of an LBS app. it’s more the Location component that interesting me.

        The conclusion is that it’s very hard to have access to a broader Data and accurate KPIs. Please see this post as a Trend more than a Statement.

        Thanks again for taking the time reading the post and engaging a discussion !

    • http://philgo20.com/ philgo20

      Wouah Mohamed ! You showed in my summify feed, good job getting some buzz around the new blog. Interesting data, keep’em coming !

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