AppLovin Q1 Update: Beyond the Holiday Surge - Why Mobile Game Ads Remain a Valuable Channel
Matt Bahr
CEO & Co-Founder
,
Fairing
Interested in advertising on AppLovin? You can apply to their closed beta here.
In November, we published our first analysis of AppLovin's incredible expansion into e-commerce. We continue to see our customers scale into AppLovin and therefore have a unique view into what's happening with mobile game advertising performance.
The Rise and Current State of AppLovin
Our attribution survey data reveals AppLovin as a distinctive and effective channel for e-commerce brands. When compared to established channels, mobile game advertising shows important patterns that savvy marketers can leverage:
Traditional tracking significantly underreports AppLovin's impact. Only 42% of orders self-attributed to mobile games showed AppLovin as the last-click source.
Significant demographic and category patterns remain. The channel shows particular strength among older consumers and specific product categories.
The Measurement Gap: Why Attribution Surveys Matter
The data tells a clear story about attribution challenges. Only 42% of mobile game orders have an AppLovin UTM parameter. The largest segment (43%) has no UTMs at all. This isn't unique to AppLovin, but it illustrates why click-based attribution is increasingly inadequate.
I was surprised to see that only 2% of these conversions had a Facebook last click. This suggests an opportunity for brands to optimize their retargeting strategy on Meta for users acquired through mobile game ads.
Response | Percent Containing AppLovin UTM |
|---|---|
Mobile Game | 36.96% |
28.23% | |
Search Engine (e.g. Google) | 6.18% |
5.74% | |
TikTok | 3.16% |
Youtube | 3.13% |
For transactions with last-click attribution to AppLovin, Mobile Game had a 37% market share. If you're relying on last-click attribution, you're under reporting AppLovin's performance.
UTM Source | Percentage of Self-Reported Mobile Game Orders by UTM Source |
|---|---|
No UTMs | 43.39% |
AppLovin | 42.36% |
5.56% | |
SMS | 3.4% |
1.94% |
These tables reinforce why attribution surveys provide visibility into channels like AppLovin that traditional click-based attribution can't capture accurately.
Which categories are most successful?
Health & Beauty continues to dominate AppLovin performance, showing 250% above-average response share during peak periods.
Food & Drug is also showing stronger relative performance, indicating the channel is becoming viable across more verticals. Given AppLovin's e-commerce offering is still in closed beta, we see lower data volume in categories like Automotive and Sporting Goods, but early signals suggest potential for expansion as the platform matures.
The Demographic Sweet Spot: Older Consumers
Our data confirms that game ads are exceptionally effective with older demographics. Users over 55 account for more than half of all mobile game ad conversions. The contrast with overall channel distribution is wide - while 18 to 35 year olds represent about 25% of conversions across all channels, they make up less than 5% of mobile game ad conversions. This age skew represents a unique opportunity to reach an often underserved demographic through mobile games.
If your target audience includes consumers 55+, I'd be testing AppLovin aggressively. The data shows they're not just seeing your ads in games; they're converting at significantly higher rates than other channels.
The Gift Purchase Connection
This holiday gift correlation is fascinating. The December spike to over 25% was certainly a surprise. Post-holiday, game ad purchases continue to maintain a 34% higher gift attribution rate than other channels. This is not due to the ad format, but rather the demographic profile of mobile game players - they're often purchasing for others, not themselves.
Brands can benefit from gift-oriented messaging in their AppLovin creative, particularly during holidays.
Implications for Marketers
Our data continues to indicate AppLovin represents a distinct channel with unique advantages:
Audience access - Reaching demographics (particularly 55+) that are difficult to target efficiently on other platforms. If your brand can market to this cohort, recommend testing AppLovin.
Gift purchase intent - Higher gift-giving behavior among mobile game users. Refine creative during peak gifting moments and ask "who is this order for?" in your post-purchase survey to validate results.
Measurement challenges - Use attribution surveys to evaluate performance.
I recommend three immediate actions beyond demographics:
Add "Mobile Game" as a standard option in your attribution surveys today. This sets your baseline, even if you're not running AppLovin ads.
Don't trust last-click for AppLovin performance. Implement surveys to capture the 58% of likely missed conversions.
For Health & Beauty brands, test creative with gift messaging. 'Perfect gift for...' could improve performance.
Methodology Note
This analysis is based on post-purchase attribution survey data from thousands of brands using Fairing's attribution surveys. It focuses on "How did you hear about us?" responses mentioning "game" or related terms. Data is normalized as a percentage of total responses to account for seasonal volume fluctuations.
