Here is an analysis of the global non-gaming App user acquisition marketing trends for July 2025, based on ad data from 50 countries/regions and 28 global media platforms, according to AppGrowing's report.
In July 2025, tool apps continued to account for the largest share of active advertisers among global applications, with the highest proportion of new advertisers as well, rising further to 26.16%.
Beyond tools, the share of new advertisers also exceeded 10% in both the entertainment and education categories.
From an ad volume perspective, entertainment once again topped the charts, with short-drama and novel apps maintaining large-scale ad placements. Yet when measured by the number of unique creatives, shopping apps retained the lead.
Looking at creative formats and video length distribution, global app advertising this month showed a near 50/50 split between image and video creatives, with little difference between the two.
On video duration, AppGrowing introduced a new 31–45s segment to provide more granular insights. Ads under 15 seconds still accounted for the largest share at 33.01%, while 16–30s creatives also exceeded 30%.
Due to the strategies of short drama apps, longer videos above 61 seconds were also prevalent, making up more than 20%.
01.Top Non-gaming App Developers & Apps
According to AppGrowing, TEMU retained the No. 1 spot among global app advertisers. The rest of the top 10 developers were dominated by short drama and novel publishers.
On the product ranking, most titles in the top 10 recorded a decline in ad volume compared with the previous month. Apart from Temu, which ranked first, the rest were short drama or novel apps.
Notably, ReadNow (No.7) and WeRead (No.8) more than doubled their ad volumes month-over-month, signaling an aggressive scaling-up of paid acquisition.
Outside short drama and novels, LINE reported an 18.04% MoM increase in ad volume, breaking into the top 30 product list and helping LINE Corporation enter the top developers ranking.
02.Top Apps in Selected Catagories
For category deep-dives, AppGrowing highlighted four: health & fitness, money earning, short dramas, and AI education.
Topping the health & fitness chart was MadMuscles, developed by Ukrainian studio Amoapps, which focuses on muscle-building workouts. The app has maintained steady user acquisition spending this year and is a regular on the rankings.
Among money earning apps, the top six were mainly shopping and food-related services, with Japan's domestic shopping brand Rakuten Ichiba taking first place. All six of the short drama leaders came from Chinese publishers, led by MoboReels, DramaBox, and DramaWave. In AI education, Al Tutor claimed the top spot, with ByteDance's Gauth ranking fourth.
03.Ad Creative Case：FlareFlow
Ad data also showed that FlareFlow, a short drama app, steadily reduced its ad spend in July—from over 100,000 creatives at the start of the month to just over 4,000 by month's end—returning to its usual scale. Still, its overall spend remained massive, earning it the No.15 position on the product ranking.
In terms of creative strategy, FlareFlow leaned heavily on showing full episodes of short dramas rather than relying on re-edited clips.
For example, one creative ran for a full 22 minutes, equivalent to an entire episode. It began with a central conflict, then cut back to earlier events, layering multiple twists and escalating crises—“the heroine faces a dangerous childbirth, survives after dramatic intervention, only to encounter a new conflict”—keeping viewers hooked while piquing curiosity about the revenge plot, ultimately driving downloads.
