Mobile Ad Trends in 2021 Q1 Report

Mobile Ad Trends
2021 Q1 Report
Introduction
MobileAction is the leading mobile ad intelligence data provider.
With tens of millions of creatives in our library and coverage of
various ad networks, our product provides unrivaled data to
advertisers, ad publishers, and app marketing agencies. At time
of publishing, our product covers nearly 80,000 publishers,
193,000 advertisers and has a creative library including 25 million
creatives.
This report is aimed to serve as a benchmark for anyone

interested in mobile advertising. From distribution channels to the
number and content of creatives, we hope that this User
Acquisition Trends report will help you make data-driven
decisions and draw actionable insights to enhance your strategy.
For your convenience, you will be able to find data on a category

basis and individually for the App Store and the Google Play
Store.
We would like to thank you for downloading this report. Feel free
to contact us with any questions or comments you may have
through help@mobileaction.co
Table of
Contents
1. All-Stars of App Marketing: Overall stats for top
advertisers in all categories and ad networks for Q1 2021
P.2-6
2. Games (App Store & Play Store) P.7-17
3. Health & Fitness (App Store & Play Store) P.18-26
4. Finance (App Store & Play Store) P.27-33
5. Productivity (App Store & Play Store) P.34-42
6. Social Networking (App Store & Play Store) P.43-49
7. Shopping (App Store & Play Store) P.50-57
8. Lifestyle (App Store & Play Store) P.58-64
9. Education (App Store & Play Store) P.65-71
10. Verdict P.72
Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 1

All-Stars of App Marketing
for 2021 Q1
Let’s start by taking a look at the most prominent players of the mobile
advertising environment. We define all-stars as ad networks or mobile
apps that distributed the highest number of unique creatives during
the period.
Top Ad Networks
Every mobile ad network has its own advantages and shortcomings.
However, it is possible to observe some commonality between the ad
network of choice for similar apps. First let us see which mobile ad
networks ran the most ads according to our findings.
native
Starting with the Play Store, we can see that Facebook channels are
clearly overpowering other ad networks. Facebook, Facebook Native,
Instagram, and Messenger are the 4 ad networks with the highest
number of creatives. AdMob, Unity, MoPub and AppLovin are following
Facebook respectively.

It should be noted that Facebook Native is defined as the ads that are
displayed on Facebook’s own app while there are also creatives pushed
through Facebook SDK in other apps.
native
When it comes to the App Store, there is a very similar view.

However, we can see that AdMob distributed more creatives
in the App Store compared to the rest of the mobile ad
networks. Overall, we can observe that the total number of
unique creatives is less than of the Google Play Store.
Top Advertising Apps

Now let us see which apps have advertised most (in terms of unique
creatives) in the first three months of 2021. Advertiser defines any app
which publishes ads (creatives) in user acquisition channels.

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driver FileMaster
Starting with the Play Store, we can see that the shopping app Wish
has dominated the list with over 200,000 unique creatives in a three
month period. There are no huge gaps between the rest of the
competitors. The presence of video streaming apps such as Bigo Live,
TikTok, and Kwai is easily noticeable.
Another shopping app, SHEIN is following the runner-up Uber Driver

closely, with only 5 thousand creatives being the difference. Finally
FileMaster is the only productivity app in our top advertisers list.

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In the App Store, we can see two games who made it to the top
advertisers list. The presence of Homescapes in this list is not
surprising as they are regularly in top advertisers lists. Similarly Cash
Frenzy also pursues an aggressive advertisement strategy, gaining the
7th place in the list. The rest of the list is pretty similar to the Play Store.
Bigo Live and TikTok took their places as the most advertising social
networks.
Interestingly, in the App Store we can see that SHEIN used more unique
creatives compared to Wish, as opposed to the Play Store. Finally a
book app, Dreame places third in the list following the shopping apps.

Apps With Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions
1 Wish
2 Bigo Live
3 TikTok
4 Likee-Let You Shine
5 Cash’em All
6 Dreame
7 Evony
Now let’s take a look at the impression scores provided by our

algorithms. In the Play Store, we can see that Wish received the most
estimated impressions, consistent with their advertising dominance in
the platform. Most of the apps were already in the top advertisers list.
However, Likee, Cash’em All, and Evony found a place in the total
impressions chart.
App Store With Most Impressions
1 Homescapes
2 Top War
3 Bigo Live
4 Dreame
5 Tile Master
6 State of Survival
7 Match 3D

Games
App Store
Top Ad Networks native
When we take a look at the top ad networks for gaming apps in the
App Store, Facebook channels are again leading the chart. It can be
seen that Facebook Native, Instagram, and Messenger are very close
to each other in terms of the number of unique creatives. Following
Facebook networks, we can see that adMob and Unity are also very
popular ad networks for gaming apps. AppLovin and Mintegral also
managed to make it to the chart from the lower-end.

Top Advertisers
If you are involved in the mobile gaming environment, you probably

heard of some of the apps listed above. Many of these apps were also
discussed on our blog due to their aggressive advertising strategies.
As paid growth is highly effective, there is no surprise that many of
these apps also found their way into the top charts.
In the first quarter of 2021, we can see that Homescapes published

many more creatives compared to its rivals. However, the rest of the
list is rather close to each other with minimal differences separating
them. In this period, the top 50 advertising apps averaged 12,533
unique creatives per quarter.

Games with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Games
1 Homescapes
2 Top War
3 Tile Master
4 State of Survival
5 Match 3D
When it comes to estimated impressions, we can see two apps that

were not in the list for apps with the most unique creatives. One of
them is Top War, an app that gives a lot of attention to paid growth
and the other is Match 3D, yet another popular game with an
aggressive advertising strategy.
Google Play Store
Top Ad Networks
When it comes to the Google Play Store, we will take a look at the data
both in an aggregate and subcategory perspective.

native
We can see that games in the Play Store mostly used Facebook
advertising channels to distribute their creatives. It is also clear that
AdMob and Unity are popular mobile ad networks for games in the
Play Store. Even though there is a gap between Messenger and
AdMob in the list, the rest if the networks are not far apart. In the Play
Store, games are also separated into subcategories. That is why
taking a look at the data in a more granular way can help us draw
more accurate insights.

native
We picked 4 of the most popular gaming categories to take a look at
the mobile ad networks that were used by the apps in the given
categories. Even though the top 4 ad networks are Facebook related
channels for all these categories, the runner-up is different in each
one.
In the Action category, AdMob takes the 5th place, while AppLovin is
more popular amongst casino games. In the casual category we can
see that Unity is frequently used while adMob again takes the 5th
place in the strategy category.

In the overall list, we can see that Casino games are leading the
charts. Cash Frenzy, Vegas Friends, Jackpot World and Lotsa Slots are
all slot games. Due to high in-app monetization potential, it is of no
surprise that these apps are leading the top advertiser charts. In
addition to casino games, we can see that strategy games are also
prominent in the list. The top 50 games in the Play Store averaged 12,118
unique creatives in the quarter.

When we take a look at the subcategory data, we can see that the top
casino game advertisers publish more unique creatives compared to
other categories such as casual and strategy. Cash Frenzy is leading
amongst these apps with almost 30 thousand unique creatives in the
first quarter.
Casual games also advertise aggressively, both Homescapes and Idle
Arks used nearly 23 thousand creatives in the period. Additionally, we
can see that the number of creatives published by the top advertising
strategy apps is very close to each other, even though Rise of Empires
takes the lead by a small amount.

Games with Most Impressions
Here are some of the best-performing creatives from these apps:
Play Store With Most Impressions: Games
1 Evony
2 Match Masters
3 Tile Master
4 Lords Mobile
5 Homescapes
When it comes to estimated impressions, we can see that the strategy

game Evony is leading. Another strategy game Lords Mobile is also on the
list. Two casual games, Match Masters and Tile Master also placed in the
most impressions list thanks to their advertising strategy.
Marble
Puzzle
When we look at the subcategories, we can see that casual and strategy
games are estimated to receive more impressions than casino games even
though their total unique creative count was lower.

Top Performing Game Creatives
Tile Master
Tile Master uses a very interesting creative slogan. As visible in this

video creative, as the user progresses through the level, their brain
level is displayed at the top and improves according to performance.
We can see that this creative has been active for over 200 days.

Match 3D
Another well performing creative from this category comes from

Match 3D. This creative has also been active for nearly 125 days and it
is published on Facebook. In this creative we can see real life imagery
where two people are trying to pass a level, emphasizing the difficulty.

Lotsa Slots
Casino apps have a similar way of advertising.

Lot’s of colors, spinning and coins are present in
most of their creatives. Live colors appeal to the
eye thus making the ad very engaging.

Health & Fitness
Health & Fitness is a very competitive category. Especially since the
pandemic started, people have been exercising at home and trying
out meditation apps. Thus the advertising activity in the category also
increased.
App Store
Top Ad Networks
native
In the Health & Fitness category, we are faced with a different picture.
Similar to games, Facebook channels are dominating the ad space.
However, we can see that the difference between Facebook channels
and the rest of the mobile ad networks is much more significant.

Top Advertisers
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In the App Store, Meditopia is the clear winner in terms of the number
of unique creatives published. While Meditopia used nearly 13,000
creatives in the first quarter, we can see that the closest competitors
Fitness Coach used around 6 thousand unique creatives. During this
time period, the top 50 advertisers of the Health & Fitness category
averaged 2,388 unique creatives per period. It is possible for
meditation apps to be conducting lots of A/B testing which results in
high numbers of unique creatives.

Health & Fitness Apps
with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Health & Fitness
1 Sleep Watch
2 Facetory
3 Calm
4 ShutEye
5 Sweat
When it comes to estimated impressions, we can see a totally

different list. Meditation and well-being apps seem to have dominated
in this area. Sleep Watch and Facetory are leading the chart with one
of the biggest Health & Fitness apps Calm being right behind them.

Google Play Store
Top Ad Networks
native
Even though the line-up is similar to the App Store, we can see that
the total number of creatives is much less in the Play Store. Right after
Facebook related networks, we can see that adMob and Unity also
made it to the list, however there is a significant difference in the
number of creatives amongst them.

Top Advertisers
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We can see some of the advertisers from the App Store in the Play
Store as well. Meditopia, Avrora and Femometer have made it to both
of the lists, demonstrating that they focus on both platforms for their
paid growth efforts. Headspace, another big name in the category
also made it to the list from the last spot with 2,264 creatives. During
this time period, the top 50 advertisers of the Health & Fitness
category in the Play Store averaged 1,723 unique creatives per period.
Notice that this average is much less compared to the App Store.

Health & Fitness Apps
Play Store With Most Impressions: Health & Fitness
1 Omvana
2 Fabulous
3 BetterMe
4 Aurora
5 Step Counter
We can see that Omvana, a meditation app is leading in terms of

estimated impressions. Three of the advertisers with the most amount
of creatives are also present in this list: Fabulous, BetterMe, and Avrora.

Top Performing Health & Fitness Creatives
Meditopia
As discussed previously, Meditopia is the top advertiser in the

category in both platforms according to the number of unique
creatives. Here we can see one of their best performing image
creatives. Notice that the creative is distributed with many different
languages, such as Spanish in Argentina and German in Switzerland.
This creative has been active for nearly a year.

Fabulous
One trend amongst Health & Fitness apps seems to be using real
life footage. For example in this video creative, Fabulous showed a
person getting more productive thanks to their app and
demonstrating it with text.

Avrora
The sleep tracking app Avrora also has some interesting creatives.
In their ads they display various features of their app, such as
detecting your bodily activities during sleep and recording your
movements. Again, we can see that the creative is published with
different subtitles and body texts in different regions.

Finance
Just like Health & Fitness, Finance is another category that greatly
benefited from the pandemic. Especially with the rise of the popularity
of cryptocurrencies and the stock markets, people started using their
mobile devices for trading. Consequently, the category became much
more competitive during the period.
App Store
Top Ad Networks
native
We can see that Facebook was used to distribute the most creatives in
the App Store for the finance category. Facebook Native, Instagram,
and Messenger follow Facebook with very close numbers. After the
Facebook channels, AdMob is 5th with 39,982 creatives, nearly double
the number of mopub which is the next mobile ad network on the list.

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We can see that many of the finance top advertisers are

cryptocurrency trading apps such as eToro or Crypto.com. These two
apps published considerably more creatives compared to their
competitors, 19,370 and 17,432 respectively. In addition to trading apps,
personal finance assistance apps such as TurboTax and Albert:
Budget are also on the list. During this time period, the top 50
advertisers of the Finance category in the App Store averaged 3,475
unique creatives per period.

Finance Apps with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Finance
1 Olymp Trade
2 IQ Broker
3 Crypto.com
4 Libertex
5 TurboTax
In the estimated impressions category, we can see that trading apps

are prominent. With rising prices in financial markets, these apps
managed to capture the attention of profit seeking investors.
Google Play Store
Top Ad Networks
native

In the Play Store, the dominance of Facebook channels is even higher
with 123,478 creatives. Compared to the App Store, we can see mopub
is much more prominent, distributing nearly as many creatives as
Messenger.
Top Advertisers
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When we come to the top advertisers for finance in the Play Store, we
can see some apps that were on the top advertisers list for the App
Store such as XTrend Speed, eToro, Webull, and FBS trader.
However this time the currency trading app XTrend Speed is leading
the chart with 13,972 creatives in the first quarter. App Store’s top
advertising finance app eToro is also the second top advertiser in the
Google Play Store with 12,229 unique creatives in the same period.

We can see that there is a gap between the third and fourth ranking
apps. While Experian published approximately 11 thousand creatives,
this number is only 6,497 for IQ Forex Broker. During this time period,
the top 50 advertisers of the Finance category in the Play Store
averaged 3,376 unique creatives per period. This is very close to the
average in the App Store which was 3,475.
Finance Apps with Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions: Finance
1 IQ Option
2 Crypto.com
3 Libertex
4 Olymp Trade
5 AvaTrade GO
Interestingly, we can see that IQ Option has received more estimated

impressions compared to other apps which published more creatives.
Crypto.com and Libertex are following IQ Option in terms of
impressions received while Olymp Trade and AvaTrade Go complete
our list.

Top Performing Finance Creatives
Crypto.com
Cryptocurrency trading apps also use similar content in their

creatives. Mostly we can see that they emphasize the rise in the price
of such coins along with the safety and simplicity of their app. In this
interstitial ad, Crypto.com displays various selling points of their app.

IQ Broker
IQ Broker has a signature advertising style. They frequently use real life
footage such as people getting happy, sad or explaining how they got
rich. This video creative which has been active for nearly 140 days is a
great example.

Productivity
App Store
As we move on to the productivity category, we can see that the

dominance of Facebook advertising channels is increasing. These four
platforms are clearly overpowering other mobile ad networks in this
genre. When we look at the chart, adMob seems to be the only channel
that is slightly close to Messenger in terms of unique creative
distribution. Unity and mopub are also in the list even though there is a
significant gap between them and the top five.

Top Advertisers
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We are faced with an interesting chart when it comes to the top

advertisers of the productivity category in the App Store. The personal
assistant app, HabitBox has published so many unique creatives that
the other apps are very far behind. While HabitBox published
approximately 26 thousand unique creatives, this number is not even
five thousand for its closest competitor which is Dubox. We can also
see two translation apps in the list.
Grammarly, which is a strong brand name is also in the least even

though it is in the last palace with 1,145 creatives. During this time
period, the top 50 advertisers of the Productivity category in the App
Store averaged 1,358 unique creatives per period.

Productivity Apps with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Productivity
1 HabitBox
2 Grammarly
3 Speechify
4 Screen Mirroring
5 Idea Hack
Considering the number of unique creatives they published, HabitBox not

surprisingly takes the first place in the top impressions list for the
productivity category in the App Store. Speechify also found its place in the
list by receiving the third highest amount of estimated impressions.
Finally, Grammarly is second on the list even though it was 10th in the top
advertisers list according to unique creative count.
Google Play Store

Top Ad Networks
native

In the Play Store we are presented with a chart that is very similar to
the App Store. Even though the number of creatives that were
circulated through these ad networks are less than the App Store, the
dominance of Facebook channels is visible in this case as well.
Similarly, adMob, Unity and mopub are following these channels. With
3,535 unique creatives, right behind Messenger with distributed 6,859
unique creatives.
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When it comes to the top advertisers list by the number of creatives,

we can see a totally different list in the Play Store compared to the
App Store.

Ahazou, a social media helper app is leading the category with 2,473
unique creatives while Muslim Prayer app is the second with 1,512
creatives. We can see that the number of creatives used by the rest of
the list is much lower compared to the first two. During this time
period, the top 50 advertisers of the Productivity category in the Play
Store averaged 442 unique creatives per period.
Productivity Apps with Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions: Productivity
1 Translate: Text, Photo, Voice, Language Translator

2 AXEL Go
3 Project Time Machines
4 Translate: Camera Translator, Learn Language
5 Lunge Systems
In the most estimated impressions list, we can see that translation

and productivity/planner apps are leading the category in the Play
Store

Top Performing Productivity Creatives
Speechify
Speechify is an app that converts texts to audio. In their video

creatives they display people who improved their quality of life thanks
to the app. We can see that they distribute this creative as a
rewarded ad.

Project Time Machines
Image creatives are very popular amongst productivity apps. Such

ads give the advertisers the opportunity to clearly state their value
proposition. For example, Project Time Machines emphasizes that you
can stop procrastinating and start being more productive in their ads.

Lunge Systems
Lunge Systems is another example for the use of image ads in the
productivity category. We can see that this creative has been active
for nearly 130 days and it uses a simple slogan.

Social Networking
App Store
Top Ad Networks
native
In the social networking category, we can see that Instagram has

performed better than Facebook Native in terms of creative count.
Even though Facebook channels are pretty dominant, we can see that
a substantial number of creatives were distributed through adMob,
mopub, and AppLovin. Vungle is also in the list, with 2,034 creatives.

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In the social networking category, video sharing and online chatting

apps are clearly dominating the rest of the apps. Especially since the
release of Clubhouse, online voice chatting apps have become
increasingly popular.
Bigo Live is known to be an aggressive advertiser. In this chart we can

see that Bigo is clearly leading the category in terms of unique
creatives with 39,835 creatives in the first quarter. Apps like Uplive and
F Circle have also released substantial amounts of creatives.
During this time period, the top 50 advertisers of the Social Networking
category in the App Store averaged 4,851 unique creatives per period.
Setting the gaming category aside, Social Networking is definitely one
of the more competitive genres as indicated by the average number
of unique creatives.

Social Networking Apps
App Store With Most Impressions: Social Networking
1 BIGO LIVE
2 LipsChat
3 CherryLive
4 Muse Chat
5 Vipal
When it comes to estimated impressions, Bigo Live is clearly ahead of the

competition. Their consistent and aggressive paid growth strategy has
been going on for a while, and this strategy seems to have continued in the
first quarter of 2021. Following Bigo, we can see that online chatting apps
are also receiving a nice amount of impressions.
Google Play Store

Top Ad Networks
native

In the Play Store, Facebook channels are leading the social category
per usual. Similar to the App Store, adMob, Unity and mopub are the
most preferred mobile ad networks after Facebook.
Top Advertisers
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In the Play Store, we can see that TikTok has surpassed Bigo Live in the
number of unique creatives, taking the first place. We can also see
that Facebook has released 17,853 creatives itself even though this
number is very little compared to the 65,018 creatives of Tiktok. The
rest of the list is dominated by online chatting and communication
apps. During this time period, the top 50 advertisers of the Social
category in the Play Store averaged 13,369 unique creatives per
period. This is almost triple the amount that was in the App Store.
Social Networking Apps
Play Store With Most Impressions: Social Networking
1 BIGO LIVE
2 TikTok
3 Facebook
4 Peach Live
5 Yiyo
When it comes to the most impressions, Bigo Live and Tiktok are
leading the category with Facebook following closely. Two online
chatting apps, Peach Live and Yiyo are also in the list.

Top Performing Social Networking Creatives
TikTok
TikTok frequently uses animals such as dogs and cats in their video
creatives. The app always mentions that you can create and connect
with others in their ads. Considering the popularity of animals on the
internet, these creatives certainly capture the attention.

Bigo Live
Bigo Live frequently uses creatives that display a Tinder-like interface.

Even though the app is about video sharing, such creatives seem to
be popular as they have been active for a long time.

Shopping
The mobile shopping industry increased its revenue greatly during the
pandemic. As people can not or do not want to go to stores as much,
they have turned to their devices to meet their shopping needs. Thus
the competition in the category also increased, pushing apps to
pursue more aggressive advertising strategies.
App Store
Top Ad Networks
native
Once again we can see that Instagram has pushed more creatives
compared to Facebook Native. Facebook distributed over 280
thousand creatives which is a significant number. After Facebook
channels, mopub and adMob were also preferred by shopping apps to
spread their creatives.

Top Advertisers
SHEIN and Wish, two of the most popular shopping apps are leading
the top advertisers category in the App Store. Both of these apps
published around 70 thousand creatives in the first quarter.
Amazon Shopping was also active in the ad space with 16,119 creatives
while the rest of the shopping apps on the chart produced around 7 to
8 thousand unique creatives. During this time period, the top 50
advertisers of the Shopping category in the App Store averaged 7,684

Shopping Apps with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Shopping
1 SHEIN
2 PatPat
3 Autodoc
4 Wish
5 Hibobi
Looking at the impressions, we can see that Shein is leading the

competition while Wish ranks 4th. We can also see a baby clothing app,
PatPat and auto parts shopping app Autodoc has made it to the list.
Google Play Store

Top Ad Networks
native

In the Play Store, we can see that the number of creatives in the
shopping category is much higher compared to the App Store.
Contrary to other categories, Facebook also mainly pushed its
creatives from its main network compared to Instagram or Messenger.
adMob is also very highly active in the ad space with over 80
thousand creatives.
Top Advertisers
The top advertisers of the shopping category in the Play Store are
pretty different compared to the App Store. Wish has used over 200
thousand unique creatives while this figure is around 80 thousand for
SHEIN. We can also see that Alibaba and Aliexpress are more active
and prominent in the Play Store.

The rest of the apps on the list have a very large gap between them
and the top two in terms of unique creatives. During this time period,
the top 50 advertisers of the Shopping category in the Play Store
averaged 11,815 unique creatives per period.
Shopping Apps with Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions: Shopping
1 Wish
2 PatPat
3 SHEIN
4 Shopee
5 SaraMart
Consistent with their lead in the number of unique creatives, Wish

seems to have received substantially more impressions compared to
other shopping apps. We can once more see PatPat in the most
impressions list while Shein takes the third place.

Top Performing Shopping Creatives
Wish
Even though shopping apps mostly use image creatives, their content
is fairly similar in video creatives as well. In this rewarded ad we can
see that we can see discount ratios all over the screen which are
followed by a prompt to download the app.

Shopee
Shopee’s creatives are also very similar to Wish. They emphasize
discounts strongly while also displaying the user interface.

Shein
SHEIN seems to be taking a different approach to their creatives. Even
though SHEIN also uses image creatives, they are also publishing
video creatives which are in a similar fashion to those ads in television.
This rather new creative which has been active for only 19 days is a
good example.

Lifestyle
App Store
For the lifestyle category, we can see that Facebook is leading the
category with 123,478 unique creatives. For the lifestyle category we
can also see that mopub is much more active, with 39,117 creatives
which is pretty close to Messenger.

Top Advertisers
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In the top advertisers list, we can see some astrology & horoscope
apps such as Nebula and Zodi. The leader of the category is Flipread,
an app that allows users to read the articles of various authors and
from different genres. While Flipread used nearly 26 thousand
creatives in the quarter, WidgetBox took the second place with 24
thousand unique creatives. During this time period, the top 50
advertisers of the Lifestyle category in the App Store averaged 4,526

Lifestyle Apps with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Lifestyle
1 WidgetBox
2 Bucket Stickers
3 Slime Simulator
4 Super Slime
5 Live Wallpapers
When it comes to impressions, we can see that WidgetBox is leading the

category. We can also see some “Slime Apps” and wallpaper applications.
Google Play Store

Top Ad Networks
native

For the lifestyle category, we can see that Facebook channels are
rather strong. While Messenger distributed 56,226 creatives this figure
was 13,532 for the closest competitor adMob. Amongst the Facebook
channels, we can see that the dispersion is rather low.
Top Advertisers a
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We can see that GoLocator, an app which allows users to track family
and loved ones is leading the category with over 47 thousand
creatives while its closest competitors released 17 thousand creatives.

We can also see some strong brand names in the list such as
Pinterest, Glovo and CARFAX. During this time period, the top 50
advertisers of the Lifestyle category in the Play Store averaged 3,547
unique creatives per period. This figure is lower than the average for
the App Store.
Lifestyle Apps with Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions: Lifestyle
1 Cash’em All
2 Lucky Money
3 Cashyy
4 Money RAWR
5 GoLocator
When we take a look at the impressions, we can see that the list is
filled with apps that allow users to win gift cards, scratchers etc. for
playing the game.

Top Performing Lifestyle Creatives
Cashyy
When it comes to apps which give rewards in exchange for users time
in the app, image creatives are extremely popular. For example
Cashyy directly states that you can earn rewards for completing
levels in their game.

GoLocator
GoLocator also prefers to use real life footage in their creative. In this
video ad we can see a ‘use case’ where the worried husband finds his
wife through the app. Even though this creative was released recently,
we can see that it is being used with different titles.

Education
Yet another category that boomed in popularity during the pandemic.
Many people used applications in this period to learn languages,
instruments as well as to keep their kids busy in a productive way.
App Store
Top Ad Networks
native
Starting with the ad networks, we can see that the gap is very big
between Facebook channels and other mobile ad networks. adMob is
leading the rest of the group with 26,846 unique creatives right behind
Messenger which distributed nearly 40 thousand creatives.

Top Advertisers
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A self-growth app, Headway is leading the category with nearly 16

thousand unique creatives published in the first quarter of 2021.
Following closely, Word Booster also has nearly 13 thousand creatives.
We can see that there are numerous language and instrument
learning apps on the list along with apps designed for kids such as
Lingokid. During this time period, the top 50 advertisers of the
Education category in the App Store averaged 2,261 unique creatives
per period.

Education Apps with Most Impressions
App Store With Most Impressions: Education
1 Elevate
2 Sago Mini School
3 Sago Mini World
4 Lingokids
5 ABCmouse.com
Even though it was not in the top advertisers list, we can see that Elevate, a
huge name in the category received the majority of estimated impressions.
Following Elevate we can see the kid’s learning app Sago Mini variants
along with Lingokids and ABCmouse.com.
Google Play Store

Top Ad Networks
native

We are faced with a similar picture in the Play Store. adMob is the only
ad network that is even close to Facebook channels while the most of
the creatives are distributed through Instagram, Messenger and
Facebook Native.
Top Advertisers
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Compared to the App Store, even though similar apps are on the top
advertisers list in the Play Store the total amount of creatives seems to
be lower. The piano learning app Simply Piano is leading the category
with 3,862 creatives published in the first quarter.

Unlike the App Store, the difference in the number of creatives
between the rest of the apps appears to be a lot less. During this time
period, the top 50 advertisers of the Education category in the Play
Store averaged 1,633 unique creatives per period.
Education Apps with Most Impressions
Play Store With Most Impressions: Education
1 ABCmouse.com
2 PhyWiz
3 Wannalisn
4 Elevate
5 Words Booster
In terms of impressions, we can see that ABCmouse.com is leading

the list in the Play Store. We can also see a physics problem solver
app, Phywiz along with Elevate and Words Booster.

Top Performing Lifestyle Creatives
Elevate
Education apps frequently use video creatives. Most likely this is due to
the fact that video creatives give them the chance to demonstrate
how they will actually educate their users. Elevate is one of the biggest
brand names in the category and displays its features in their
creatives. As you can see this creative has been active for over a year
in 31 countries.

Lingokids
Lingokids also uses a similar strategy. However in addition to
displaying their interface, this app also uses real life footage where
kids are engaging with the app. It seems to be a valid strategy to gain
parents attention.

Verdict
The mobile marketing industry is growing at a rapid pace. Increasing
demand results in increased competition. Thus apps are in a constant
state of battle to get ahead of their competitors in user acquisition.
Navigating such a dynamic environment is not easy, and requires the
utilization of the best tools available in order to succeed.
MobileAction provides the world-leading mobile ad intelligence

solution with unrivaled amounts of data and consistency. With 25
million creatives, 80 thousand publishers and 193 thousand advertisers,
you can enhance your mobile advertising strategy today.
Examine your competitors advertising campaign

See which ad networks they are using and the format of their
creatives
Analyze the content of creatives
Over 20 thousand businesses globally trust our product to grow their

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experience the power of data-driven decision making, schedule a
demo with our experts today and start using your competitors'
creatives to reach actionable insights!

Mobile Ad Trends in 2021 Q1 Report

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Mobile Ad Trends

This report is aimed to serve as a benchmark for anyone

For your convenience, you will be able to find data on a category

2. Games (App Store & Play Store) P.7-17

3. Health & Fitness (App Store & Play Store) P.18-26

4. Finance (App Store & Play Store) P.27-33

5. Productivity (App Store & Play Store) P.34-42

6. Social Networking (App Store & Play Store) P.43-49

7. Shopping (App Store & Play Store) P.50-57

8. Lifestyle (App Store & Play Store) P.58-64

9. Education (App Store & Play Store) P.65-71

10. Verdict P.72

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 1

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 2

When it comes to the App Store, there is a very similar view.

Top Advertising Apps

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 3

Another shopping app, SHEIN is following the runner-up Uber Driver

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 4

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 5

Play Store With Most Impressions

Now let’s take a look at the impression scores provided by our

App Store With Most Impressions

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 6

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 7

If you are involved in the mobile gaming environment, you probably

In the first quarter of 2021, we can see that Homescapes published

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 8

App Store With Most Impressions: Games

When it comes to estimated impressions, we can see two apps that

Google Play Store

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 9

advertising channels to distribute their creatives. It is also clear that

Play Store. Even though there is a gap between Messenger and

Store, games are also separated into subcategories. That is why

more accurate insights.

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 10

We picked 4 of the most popular gaming categories to take a look at

categories. Even though the top 4 ad networks are Facebook related

channels for all these categories, the runner-up is different in each

more popular amongst casino games. In the casual category we can

place in the strategy category.

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 11

all slot games. Due to high in-app monetization potential, it is of no

unique creatives in the quarter.

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 12

casino game advertisers publish more unique creatives compared to

other categories such as casual and strategy. Cash Frenzy is leading

amongst these apps with almost 30 thousand unique creatives in the

Casual games also advertise aggressively, both Homescapes and Idle

Arks used nearly 23 thousand creatives in the period. Additionally, we

takes the lead by a small amount.

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 13

Play Store With Most Impressions: Games

When it comes to estimated impressions, we can see that the strategy

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 14

Tile Master uses a very interesting creative slogan. As visible in this

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 15

Another well performing creative from this category comes from

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 16

Casino apps have a similar way of advertising.

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 17

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 18

Mobile Ad Trends 2021 Q1 Report 19