AppsFlyer Index shows tighter race in mobile ads
AppsFlyer has reported a tightening race among the largest players in mobile advertising in its 2025 Performance Index, with Meta, TikTok, AppLovin and Mintegral gaining ground on Google and Apple.
The research ranks leading media sources in mobile advertising. It is based on 16.2 billion installs from more than 39,000 apps and 9.6 billion remarketing conversions.
Google Ads kept its number one position on Android. Apple Ads remained the top global media source on iOS.
The gap between these incumbents and the rest of the field narrowed across both gaming and non-gaming categories. The report shows a market that is more concentrated at the top and more competitive among rising networks.
Spending increasingly favoured the most prominent players. Sixty per cent of the global top five media sources saw year-on-year growth in ad spend. Among those ranked 6 through 10, 80% reported higher spending. Only 30% of media sources in positions 11 to 20 achieved spend growth.
The Index indicates that iOS drove most of the increase in overall ad spend in 2025. Android spending gains were more limited, concentrated in the strongest networks.
Gaming leaders
Apple Ads remained in the lead for iOS gaming worldwide. AppLovin narrowed the gap in that category. It led in tier one regions such as North America and Western Europe.
On Android gaming, Google Ads remained the top media source. AppLovin, Mintegral, and rewarded platforms such as Adjo posted significant gains in this segment.
Mintegral recorded significant advances across Android categories. The results suggest stronger competition for budgets targeting Android gamers across multiple regions.
Non-gaming shift
Non-gaming categories also showed shifts in ranking. Apple Ads kept its top position in iOS non-gaming. Meta Ads ranked second, followed by TikTok for Business in third place, Google Ads in fourth, and Snapchat in fifth.
On Android non-gaming, Google Ads held the number one spot. Meta Ads placed second, and TikTok for Business ranked third.
Google Marketing Platform entered the Android non-gaming top five at number four. Snapchat joined the same list at number five. The Index attributes its positions to meaningful jumps in retention quality.
The changing rankings point to a rebalancing of where brands place non-gaming budgets across the two main mobile platforms. They also show the growing role of short-form video and social platforms in performance-driven campaigns.
Market concentration
AppsFlyer stated that the mobile ad market is shifting from a fragmented network landscape towards a smaller set of dominant platforms. It linked this trend with increased competition on creative performance and a greater emphasis on trust in data and measurement.
"As we publish our tenth anniversary Index, it is clear how dramatically the mobile advertising landscape has evolved," said Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Market Insights, AppsFlyer. "What began as a fragmented and highly competitive set of networks has become a market driven by a handful of large platforms, rising expectations around creative performance, and a greater focus on trust."
The 2025 edition marks a decade of tracking mobile advertising movements. Previous editions charted developments such as privacy-driven measurement, fraud-protection tools, changes in spend allocation, shifts in genre performance, and the use of different creative strategies.
This year's analysis covered 88 mobile media sources. It examined non-organic installs and remarketing conversions across multiple app categories and regions over the Index period.
AppsFlyer positions the Index as a benchmark for marketers who manage mobile budgets across gaming and non-gaming apps. The company said the findings outline where performance-focused spend flows at the start of 2025 and which networks have gained or lost share.
The firm plans to maintain the Index as an annual review of competitive dynamics in mobile advertising and of how brands distribute spend between iOS and Android.