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Research

28 documents

Documents

The State of Mobile Game and App Markets: H1 2022

The mobile app and gaming landscape underwent a significant strategic pivot during the first half of 2022, characterized by a transition from high-volume advertising to a quality-focused, data-driven methodology. Faced with rising user acquisition costs and the restrictive post-ATT environment, marketers reduced the total volume of mobile game creatives by nearly 30% year-over-year. This contraction reflects a broader industry shift toward precise traffic optimization, where performance metrics like Cost Per Purchase and In-App Purchase Return on Ad Spend have superseded raw install volume as the primary indicators of success. Geographically, the United States remains the dominant market, commanding the highest share of traffic and the most expensive advertising costs. CPMs surged significantly during this period, rising 18% for mobile games and 64% for non-gaming applications. In response to these economic headwinds and privacy-related tracking limitations, advertisers have increasingly pivoted toward the Android ecosystem, which now hosts approximately 70% of mobile game creatives. Simultaneously, growth is being sought in emerging Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets to offset the saturation and high costs found in traditional Western strongholds. To maintain performance, publishers are diversifying their acquisition channels, moving beyond traditional social media giants to include incentive-based traffic sources and search-driven discovery. App Store Optimization and Apple Search Ads have become critical components of visibility strategies, while the adoption of predictive analytics and first-party data collection allows developers to navigate the loss of IDFA-based targeting. By prioritizing user-generated content styles and optimizing opt-in prompts, which have reached success rates as high as 51% in certain hyper-casual segments, the industry is successfully recalibrating its approach to sustain long-term growth despite a challenging macroeconomic climate.

market-analysis mobile marketing+3

AdQuantumJan 2022

Report

2022 The Israeli Mobile Game Market Report

The Israeli mobile gaming sector has solidified its position as a premier global hub, characterized by a robust ecosystem of approximately 200 companies and 14,000 employees. Generating $9 billion in annual revenue, the industry has experienced extraordinary growth, with total earnings increasing by 760% since 2016. This expansion, accelerated by pandemic-era shifts in consumer behavior, is anchored by major developers such as Playtika, Plarium, and Moon Active, who maintain a strategic focus on the social, casual, and hyper-casual genres. Despite this financial success, the advertising landscape underwent significant volatility in 2022. Total ad creatives declined by 17.8% year-over-year, even as the number of active advertisers grew by 4.2%. This contraction was most pronounced within the RPG segment, while casual and puzzle titles maintained dominance. A pivotal shift in platform strategy has emerged, with Android now capturing 70% of all mobile game advertising, a trend largely attributed to Apple’s IDFA privacy changes. Video content remains the industry standard, accounting for over 86% of all creative output. Global marketing strategies have become increasingly localized to meet regional preferences, ranging from live-action influencer content in the United States to character-centric assets in Japan and high-fidelity technology showcases in South Korea. Furthermore, creative trends are evolving away from traditional failure-based hyper-casual tropes toward more positive, success-oriented gameplay. While the Israeli market continues to demonstrate immense scale and innovation, the industry faces ongoing structural challenges, specifically regarding the availability of venture funding and the persistent shortage of skilled human resources required to sustain long-term growth.

market-analysis mobile marketing+2

SocialPetaJan 2022

Whitepaper

White Paper on Global Mobile Games 2021

The 2021 mobile gaming landscape was defined by a transition toward creative-led advertising strategies necessitated by rising acquisition costs and shifting privacy regulations. As iOS privacy changes prompted a strategic pivot toward Android platforms, the industry experienced a 200% surge in ad creatives and a 34% year-over-year increase in CPMs on major platforms like Meta. With the United States emerging as the most expensive market at an average CPM of $28.18, advertisers increasingly prioritized data-driven optimization and regional targeting to maintain return on investment amidst a broader 5% slowdown in total advertiser market growth. While casual and puzzle games maintained the highest volume of individual advertisers globally, RPGs consistently dominated in total creative output across key regions, including Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. To combat market saturation, developers shifted toward high-engagement formats, specifically vertical video ads exceeding 30 seconds and playable end cards. These creative strategies, often incorporating celebrity endorsements and real-people trailers, became essential tools for driving conversions in a competitive environment where traditional tracking methods faced significant headwinds. Looking toward future growth, the industry is increasingly focused on globalization and the refinement of hybrid monetization models. Developers are diversifying revenue streams by integrating NFTs and combining traditional in-app purchases with ad-based structures. Furthermore, the adoption of privacy-compliant user acquisition, such as early SKAN testing and AI-driven optimization, has become a prerequisite for success. As companies expand into emerging markets like the Middle East and the CIS, the combination of M&A activity, social feature integration, and sophisticated monetization frameworks will remain central to navigating the complexities of the post-privacy mobile ecosystem.

market-analysis mobile user-acquisition+4

SocialPetaJan 2021

Report

2021 H1 Global Mobile App Marketing Whitepaper

The global mobile marketing landscape experienced a massive surge in activity during the first half of 2021, characterized by a 108% year-on-year increase in advertising creatives totaling over 19 million. This growth was primarily driven by hard-core gaming titles and a significant expansion in the non-game sector, where creatives rose 38% to 47.6 million. Despite this volume increase, Apple’s IDFA policy changes caused a 13% decline in the share of iOS creatives, shifting more focus toward Android platforms. Geographically, the United States remained the largest advertising market, while Oceania emerged as the fastest-growing region for non-game advertisers. Chinese companies solidified their global dominance during this period, accounting for 70% of top-charting mobile game media buying and over 25% of the total global market share. These developers maintained a particularly strong presence on major social platforms, representing 100% of the top ten advertisers on Facebook’s News Feed. However, this increased competition contributed to a sharp rise in acquisition costs, with Facebook’s average CPC and CPM both climbing 128% year-over-year. RPG and Puzzle genres led in total creative volume, while Strategy games exhibited the highest media buying intensity per advertiser. Marketing strategies have evolved toward high-engagement, "snackable" short-form video content and influencer-led campaigns to combat rising costs and privacy-related tracking challenges. In the gaming sector, creative tactics shifted toward live-action footage and gameplay extensions, while non-game apps—particularly in the education and shopping sectors—capitalized on pandemic-related lifestyle shifts. As the industry navigates the post-IDFA era, the integration of high-quality in-game ads and diverse creative formats has become essential for maintaining user retention and driving monetization across both domestic Chinese and international markets.

advertising marketing global+1

SocialPetaJan 2021