G2 is the place you go for software. But it’s also the place you go for software insights. With over 180,000 product and services profiles, 2.7 million verified user reviews, and 90 million annual visitors, G2 offers an unmatched depth and breadth of data on the world of B2B software. And it’s all rooted in authentic customer voice and real buying behavior.
With this data, we’re able to provide unique insight into the indicators that define what’s happening across the software landscape right now. This is precisely what we aim to accomplish with our State of Software report series. In May, we published the second iteration of our State of Software report. Fast forward three months, and we’re serving up the third edition with the latest insights.
This edition of the State of Software zeroes in on key indicators derived from our data through Q2 of this year. To map what’s driving market shifts, we tapped into AI to analyze buyer sentiment trends. We also examined how buyer satisfaction with AI software differs depending on company size. Once again, we dug into traffic trends and value too, parsing out which segments are drawing the most interest and delivering ROI fastest (and slowest).
With that said, what did we find? According to the G2 State of Software, August 2024 edition, here are five key trends we observed:
An analysis of our reviews across software shows these three categories set the pace in delivering more immediate business value. Today, 75% of AI buyers report realizing a ROI in under a year, marking the first time AI has been among the top three G2 categories for swiftest return on investment.
G2’s software landscape continues to grow – more than 10% of the past year – fueled by AI innovation. AI retained its spot as the fastest-growing software market by far in terms of new products added, clocking in at 38% YoY growth and 5% growth in Q2 alone. While the pace of growth slowed from the 44% YoY growth observed six months prior, AI categories actually added slightly more new products compared to our last report (about 800!). The growth percentage leveling off reflects the expanding size of this meteoric space.
The race is on as vendors rush to capitalize on the demand for content and media generation at scale. Within AI software, these three generative AI categories have seen the largest increase in products over the past year. While Chatbots and AI Writing Assistant products show a larger number of products in their categories, it's those noted that are growing most rapidly – AI Image Generators experiencing a 441% increase YoY.
G2’s Momentum Score plots where software is headed based on growth in user satisfaction scores, employee growth, and digital presence. These three categories stand out with high-growth trajectories and AI continues to lead all high-level G2 software markets in Momentum score — underscoring AI’s continued growth into 2024.
When reviewing G2 traffic data, we see yet again that buyers are flocking to Vertical Industry categories researching industry-focused solutions for their businesses. This trend shows no signs of slowing as the current AI boom brings enhancements to software spanning vertical markets. Marketing and ERP categories rank second in terms of most buyer traffic on G2 over the past year.
On behalf of G2’s Market Research team, we hope this edition of G2’s State of Software report helps you not only stay ahead on the latest trends in B2B SaaS, but also informs your go-to-market strategy, positioning your organization for continued growth.
Dive into the full report for additional findings and stay tuned for future editions. Please let us know what you liked from this report or would like to see in the future by emailing research@g2.com.
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