High-engagement formats like video and playables outperform banners by 20 times in gaming installs, while finance sector interstitials are 18 times more effective at conversion.
Long-form video ad spend grew by 245% year-over-year, and 'triple-page' ads combining video, playables, and end cards saw a 355% increase in investment.
Optimized user-generated content (UGC) ads achieve a 20% lower cost-per-install (CPI) compared to standard video creative.
Native ads are the most cost-effective format for gaming on iOS, whereas playables provide the best value for gaming on Android.
In the e-commerce sector, native and banner ads remain highly effective for driving post-install activity, maintaining install-to-action rates above 30%.
Generative AI is increasingly utilized to scale creative production, specifically for automated localization and voice-over tasks.
The Mobile Ad Creative Index provides a comprehensive analysis of performance benchmarks and emerging trends within the mobile advertising ecosystem. Covering the period from January 2023 to January 2024, the data is derived from a massive sample of 602 billion impressions, 49.4 billion clicks, and 144 million installs across the gaming, e-commerce, finance, and entertainment sectors. The primary thesis asserts that while traditional formats like banners remain cost-effective for driving specific actions, high-engagement formats such as video, playables, and interstitials are significantly more effective at converting impressions into installs.
Key findings highlight a stark contrast in performance across formats. In gaming, video and playable ads are over 20 times more likely to result in an install than banners, while interstitial ads in the finance sector are 18 times more likely to convert. However, cost-per-install (CPI) varies greatly by platform; for instance, native ads are the most cost-effective on iOS for gaming, whereas playables offer the best value on Android. In e-commerce, native and banner ads excel at driving post-install purchases, achieving install-to-action rates exceeding 30%.
The analysis identifies several pivotal trends for 2024, most notably the integration of generative AI to enhance the speed and scale of creative production, such as automated localization and voice-overs. User-generated content (UGC) remains a dominant force, with optimized UGC ads showing 20% lower CPIs than standard video. Furthermore, there is a measurable shift toward longer, more immersive ad experiences. Spend on long-form video grew by 245% year-over-year, and "triple-page" ads—combining video, playables, and end cards—saw a 355% increase in spend, suggesting that users increasingly prefer transparent, high-quality engagement over short, deceptive creative tactics.
