How AppLovin Offers Repeatable UA Opportunities for Marketers

TL;DR:

• How AppLovin offers UA opportunities
• The elements of the AppLovin platform
• Verticals suited to AppLovin
• Considerations before getting started
• Key Takeaways
• FAQ

If you are a marketer tasked with driving User Acquisition, you will be familiar with the daily grind. No matter whether your objective is scaling a mobile game, growing a non-gaming app, or acquiring users for a direct-to-consumer brand, you will be well aware that every single dollar must be proven to drive performance. In an era of channel saturation, how can advertisers successfully acquire new users and diversify their channel mix? 

Programmatic and AI buying is a potential avenue, and in recent years, AppLovin has become one of the most-discussed platforms in performance marketing. Launched in 2012, AppLovin originally served the mobile gaming industry. In 2023, a new version of the core algorithm, AXON 2.0 (or AXON AI), was released, creating opportunities for advertisers to improve KPIs that marketers care about, from conversion rates to installs. 

Then came an e-commerce development. The same AXON predictive model that identifies high-value app users can also now identify high-value shoppers. In 2024, the platform was opened to DTC brands, and a self-serve Axon Ads platform launched on a referral-only basis. According to AppLovin, Axon is now the largest performance ad channel for mobile games, offering more than 10,000 apps across a range of genres. This enables advertisers to reach people via free-to-play titles like Candy Crush and Sudoku, reaching around 1B users per day. In 2026, AppDiscovery and AXON have been brought together as the ‘AppLovin Ads’ product.

“For most of our history, we focused exclusively on gaming studios. Over the last 18 months, we have demonstrated that the recommendation system powering AppLovin Ads extends well beyond gaming. Today, thousands of e-commerce brands are seeing performance comparable to their best acquisition channels, and we continue to expand across additional categories.”

AppLovin Growth Ops Team

One notable difference from other channels is the formats available: full-screen, unskippable vertical video ads that offer a median view time of 35 seconds per impression. In this blog series, the Programmatic team at M+C Saatchi Performance will cover what advertisers should consider before getting started, best practices for creative, how to operationalize performance campaigns for success, and more.

We believe that, done well, AppLovin can offer advertisers a repeatable system to improve ROAS and scale. Like any media plan, there is plenty to consider before jumping in, and we advise a layered approach. First, and vitally, advertisers must set the platform up correctly; meeting platform hygiene standards will establish a baseline for performance. Once this is achieved, the next step is to leverage the competitive levers available in the system, enabling brands to scale. One essential capability advertisers will need to realize success is the ability to produce and test creative at scale; without this operational infrastructure, it may be hard to deliver optimal results.

Emil Dewy, Senior Manager Programmatic Media, M+C Saatchi Performance

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How the changes in digital enabled programmatic innovation

Privacy changes have dominated the digital ecosystem over the last few years, especially on mobile devices. With fewer signals and increasing competition, advertisers are increasingly turning to programmatic, AI‑led platforms to unlock incremental growth. 

Key ecosystem shifts have driven change:

• UA and monetization strategies are no longer siloed
• Creative and post-install signals drive performance more than audience targeting
• Networks with proprietary supply and AI optimization outperform open exchanges
• Gaming inventory is one of the most efficient environments for performance advertising

The AppLovin Ads platform

AppLovin is an AI‑powered advertising platform built to help mobile‑first brands acquire high‑value customers, monetize apps, and scale performance efficiently. Originally rooted in mobile gaming, the AppLovin product suite has evolved into a full‑funnel growth platform spanning cross-journey touchpoints, from user acquisition (UA) and in‑app monetization to connected TV (CTV).

“Fundamentally, there are two main elements to the AppLovin system: it helps app publishers monetize inventory, and it enables advertisers to acquire new users at scale.”

Emil Dewy, Senior Manager Programmatic Media, M+C Saatchi Performance.

At the core of the platform is AXON AI, AppLovin’s proprietary machine-learning model, which evaluates billions of behavioral signals and matches ads with users most likely to deliver long-term value, not just installs.

Here’s what AppLovin Ads can do for you:

• Enable advertisers to scale UA efficiently
• Provide strong performance in gaming and adjacent verticals
• Enable machine‑learning optimization via AXON
• Provide infrastructure through which a significant portion of mobile in-app inventory is monetized

AppLovin currently leads the in-game advertising market with a 28% share, surpassing Google AdMob’s 27%, and dominates the iOS platform with a 43% market share. For UA marketers looking to diversify their channel mix, AppLovin offers a scalable alternative that leverages proprietary AI, tech, and data. 

The platform was built to enable marketers to achieve performance outcomes, with spend optimized for ROAS objectives or cost per event, e.g., ‘first deposit’. For web rather than mobile campaigns, spend is optimized for ROAS or purchase events. The AXON algorithm provides real-time bidding across mobile ecosystems. Data such as postbacks, event-level feedback, and cross-app behavioral trends train the algorithm to continue optimizing, which, over time, leads to lower CPA and higher conversion rates. This is particularly suited to mobile, where rapid test-and-learn and creative iteration testing are essential. 

M+C Saatchi Performance Use Case: A Mobile Gaming Platform

A mobile gaming platform that connects millions of players through competitive, easy-to-access games, turning everyday moments into opportunities for engagement, reward, and retention. 

Strategy:

• The campaign used a combination of CPA & ROAS campaigns while ensuring protocols to prevent cannibalization. 
• A combination of static, video, and HTML-based interactive ads was used to deliver incremental reach & performance from the platform

Results: 

The campaign ran on AppLovin for several months in 2026 and achieved a 15% reduction in CPI and a 17% reduction in cost per first purchase while maintaining user quality. 

Which advertisers could benefit from AppLovin Ads?

The platform was born in mobile gaming, and this remains the dominant sector. However, mobile inventory and behavioral signals offer opportunities for advertisers beyond gaming, and the platform’s e-commerce focus is making it appealing to a wider range of advertisers. For example, subscription apps and direct-to-consumer advertisers can also credibly test as part of the channel mix as the platform expands beyond gaming, most recently into commerce media, opening the door to advertisers that have historically focused on web-based campaigns. 

AppLovin is best suited for brands that:

• Are mobile-first or app-led
• Want to diversify beyond Meta and Google
• Have strong creative iteration capability, e.g., access to a rapid-turnaround ‘creative studio.’
• Optimize toward LTV or ROAS, not installs alone

“Due to the non-skippable formats, there is no chance of a user scrolling past, which means the ad formats available offer advertisers some distinct opportunities. With other video platforms like TikTok, the content hook needs to be very strong in the first 3 seconds. With AppLovin, a significant element is non-skippable ads, which offer more room for creative innovation. Also, video ads can be followed up by an interactive end card, which makes it very engaging.”

Emil Dewy, Senior Manager Programmatic Media

Applovin platform can be effective in scenarios such as these common pain points:

• App publishers that need to optimize outcomes: AppLovin can optimize towards CPA or ROAS from in-app purchases. This allows marketers to either maximize the volume of purchases within a given budget OR maximize total revenue within a set budget.
• Outcome choice: If the focus of the advertiser is to rapidly capture market share, then volume is essential; if the KPI is profitability, then select for ROAS.
• App publishers who focus on in-app advertising for revenue: Any brand (OTT, gaming, etc.) that has ad monetization as a revenue stream. AppLovin can find users who fetch the highest CPM rates, see many ads, and therefore help monetize their app better.
• Outcomes: revenue stability
• App publishers who have both in-app purchases AND in-app advertising: For such apps, AppLovin has an optimization model that optimizes for the sum of revenue from both purchases & in-app advertising. 
• Websites that sell products online: App-to-web journeys are available, for example, for D2C brands. As of April 2026, it has surpassed a $1Bn run-rate spend for eCommerce advertisers. Therefore, it is possible to optimize towards website conversion event volumes (CPA) or event revenue (ROAS) through the non-skippable app inventory.

Considerations before testing Applovin

• Be clear about what the pricing and bidding models offer, and account for the learning phase, which may be slow depending on the volume of available creative. 
• Have protocols in place to prevent cannibalization with paid social or other programmatic campaigns
• There are few manual targeting capabilities; for example, there is no ability to target or blacklist specific publishers, sites, states, etc. This means that certain categories of products, e.g., sports betting, finance, and pharma, may not be suitable.
• Creative fuels growth; the platform thrives when provided with a high volume of fresh creative with frequent iterations. 
• The bigger the budget, the faster the learning. To scale conversion volumes successfully, conversion volumes must be high; otherwise, the model will be slow to learn. 
• Advertisers with multiple geographical app versions should consolidate these into a single campaign with a ‘per country’ goal to enable the algorithm to learn faster.

What marketers need to train the model

• All media postbacks: the algorithm relies on signals to build accuracy
• Optimization: select the events that align with primary KPIs
• Target KPIs: setting aggressive targets can limit delivery and cause underspending
• Daily budget: set to ensure a minimum of 10 attributed events per day
• Campaign expansion: Geo-sequenced rollout plan
• Creative testing: develop a robust creative testing framework

Potential Blockers:

• Minimum of $500/day daily budgets
• All media postbacks are required from an MMP for App campaign learning
• Pixel implementation is required for web campaigns
• Creative fatigue, low budget, or low conversions will slow learning and potentially be inefficient
• SKAN limitations
• MMP set up

“Campaign effectiveness can often be down to setup issues rather than platform limitations, so setup is crucial. AppLovin is not a replacement for core channels, but it can be an interesting complement to help reach new audiences and diversify a user acquisition strategy. The platform can be of interest to advertisers looking to scale beyond Meta, Google, and TikTok, especially through immersive video and playable formats. Its optimization models are flexible and can adapt well to different business goals, but the platform also demands a more disciplined approach to testing. Compared to other major platforms, the minimum effective daily budgets on AppLovin tend to be higher, which makes it even more important to have a structured testing framework, strong campaign hygiene, and a close watch on cannibalization between campaigns and channels.”

Emil Dewy, Senior Manager Programmatic Media, M+C Saatchi Performance

In summary, AppLovin offers:

• Measurable KPIs: such as cost-effective user acquisition, measurable ROAS, and LTV optimization
• Monetization: Access to its SDK inventory, enabling publishers to monetize their content and measure uplift. Revenue growth from both in-app purchases and in-app advertising revenue goals.
• Targeting: Axon AI algorithm enables advertisers to efficiently target, e.g., CPI, ROAS, and LTV
• Inventory: MAX enables publishers to monetize content by showing ads across different networks
• Audience: Users are playing games and therefore are potentially in a more relaxed mindset that offers potential to gain attention compared to other contexts.
• AI-powered: optimization and automation for advanced campaign management, allowing scale.
• Ad formats: AppLovin offers non-skippable ads, which capture attention for the duration of a video. 
• Inventory: direct supply access through MAX
• Machine Learning: Multiple algorithm models to choose from for optimization, depending on objectives
• Planning and setup: to ensure campaigns are optimized rapidly, plan the setup well ahead of launch, especially to ensure creative capacity can be realized. 

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