In 2025, the global mobile advertising market has continued its steady upward trajectory, with both mobile games and non-gaming apps showing significant year-over-year growth in active advertising apps.
According to AppGrowing, nearly 50,000 mobile games launched ad campaigns in Q1 2025, marking a 30.6% increase compared to the same period in 2024.For non-gaming apps, the number of advertised products reached approximately 109,000, up 43.7% year-over-year.
To mark its fifth anniversary, AppGrowing has officially released the Creative & Strategic Trends in Global Mobile Advertising（2025Q1), offering a comprehensive analysis of advertising trends across the global mobile landscape.
This report explores major market developments in Q1 2025, spotlighting advertising strategies across both gaming and non-gaming verticals.
It provides deep dives into emerging categories like hybrid-casual games, mini-games, short dramas, novels, and AI apps, illustrating how developers are evolving their ad strategies in response to rapidly changing market dynamics.
01.Hybrid-Casual Game & Mini-Game
In the past year alone, 15 hybrid-casual games have surpassed $5 million in revenue globally.
The genre's breakout began in 2023, but advertising remains relatively restrained. In Q1 2025, only two titles—Mob Control and Goods Puzzle—exceeded 10,000 active ad creatives.
In 2024, seven mini-game-style titles, led by Legend of Mushroom, generated over $100 million in revenue global, validating the global potential of this format.
This success has attracted newcomers like JUNHAI GAMES and DH Games. As more developers enter the space, the mini-game category is experiencing a surge of gameplay innovation, with emerging sub-genres such as Boom Boom-like, Backpack-like, and LD-like games gaining traction.
02.AIGC, Novel & Short Drama
According to AppGrowing's “Top AI Websites” AI Websites are currently dominated by PWA formats. The top three product categories are Chatbots (34.3%), AI-generated art (22.8%), and large language models (19.5%).
On the app side, AI apps maintained steady growth in Q1, with the number of advertised apps up 5% quarter-over-quarter. Key growth categories include AI Text Generators, AI Companion, and AI Education.
English remains the dominant language in the global novel market, accounting for 71.6% of all novel advertising in Q1. However, smaller language markets such as Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Indonesian are on the rise, fueled by increasing publisher interest in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Chinese mainland developers continue to lead the way in the novel space. According to AppGrowing, 16 of the top 20 most advertised novel apps in Q1 were developed by Chinese mainland publishers, with Dreame claiming the top spot.
In the fast-growing short drama sector, female audiences dominate, with female-oriented content accounting for 75.7% of all titles advertised. The three leading genre tags are CEO (26.8%), Flash Marriage (19.3%), and Tragic Romance (16.1%), showing that romantic drama remains the mainstream theme.
Chinese mainland publishers also hold a commanding lead in user acquisition. Of the top 20 most advertised short drama apps in Q1 2025, 19 came from Chinese mainland developers. The only exception was My Drama, from Ukrainian publisher Holy Water, which ranked 10th.
For more in-depth data, category-level insights, and top publisher strategies, please download the full report: Creative & Strategic Trends in Global Mobile Advertising（2025Q1).
