In 2024, the global mobile advertising market steadily advanced amidst challenges and opportunities.
Publishers generally faced concerns over traffic and revenue due to the slowdown in global market growth.
At the same time, their various attempts to break through this anxiety have given rise to new market trends.
For mobile games, mini-games continued to gain traction, reshaping the existing landscape of the global mobile gaming market.
The rise of W2A (Web to App) advertising, along with the further application of AIGC in both gameplay content and ad marketing, has provided publishers with new strategies to overcome traffic concerns.
For non-gaming apps, the rise of short drama apps and AI applications contributed to an overall positive growth trend in the number of active apps and ad volumes.
In the short drama sector, Chinese publishers dominated the market, securing a strong hold on top-tier traffic. AI companion apps, on the other hand, performed exceptionally well, emerging as a key growth driver within the AI category.
To provide industry professionals with a comprehensive understanding of global mobile market trends, AppGrowing and Airbridge have jointly released the 2024 Global Mobile Marketing Strategy Whitepaper.
This report leverages AppGrowing and Airbridge to deliver an in-depth analysis of key trends in 2024's mobile game and app advertising landscape. It highlights the latest marketing strategies from top publishers, sheds light on emerging category trends, and provides a strategic breakdown of how different companies approach ad placements and market positioning.
For the full insights, please refer to the 2024 Global Mobile Marketing Strategy Whitepaper PDF.
01.Mobile Gaming Advertising Trends
In 2024, the global mobile game advertising market continued to show signs of recovery.
According to AppGrowing data monitoring, the average number of active gaming ads exceeded 32,000 per month, reflecting a 37.2% year-on-year increase. While ad volume saw minor fluctuations between Q2 and Q3, the overall trend remained stable.
Additionally, data from peak marketing periods such as summer holidays and Christmas showed notable increases, highlighting a more concentrated event-driven marketing approach.
Beyond trending topics like mini-games, mini-game monetization strategies, and AIGC, the past year also saw the rapid rise of Web to App (W2A) and Web to APK (W2APK) advertising.
These methods allowed advertisers to tap into broader internet traffic pools beyond in-app advertising, providing new avenues for mobile marketing growth.
According to AppGrowing data monitoring, these two advertising formats experienced rapid expansion, with their share of total ad volume reaching 7% in Q3.
02.Strategy Games: A Dominant Genre for Chinese Publishers
The report delves into three major mobile game categories—RPG, strategy, and casual games—analyzing key advertisers, popular ad creatives, and the latest market trends in South Korea. Due to space constraints, we will focus on strategy games, but the full report contains a more comprehensive analysis.
Strategy games remain one of the highest-grossing genres in the mobile gaming market and a key strength for Chinese publishers.
According to AppGrowing data monitoring, Chinese 4X publishers dominate the global strategy game advertising rankings, with over half of the top 20 games being Chinese titles. Whiteout Survival by Century Games topped the ranking, while IGG secured three spots in the top five.
Focusing on the South Korean strategy game market, Airbridge data monitoring shows that in 2024, strategy game revenue in South Korea surpassed $700 million, ranking second among all mobile game categories. Google Play's Android segment was particularly noteworthy, contributing 67% of total revenue.
03.HoYoverse's Key Mobile Ad Strategies
In the latter half of 2024, the anime-style action game Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) launched globally. According to official data, global pre-registrations exceeded 40 million, and the game surpassed 50 million downloads within three days of launch.
Alongside Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, these three titles now form HoYoverse's key acquisition drivers in global markets.
Pre-registrations for Zenless Zone Zero began in April, with advertising campaigns launching in parallel, reaching their peak at launch.
According to AppGrowing's "Timeline" feature, HoYoverse employed a brand-performance integrated strategy, using frequent store events and homepage placements to maximize visibility.
Following launch, the game maintained two store events per month from August to October, consistently securing App Store homepage recommendations.
In December, the game introduced Version 1.4, coinciding with multiple holiday marketing campaigns, leading to a significant increase in ad volume.
04.Non-Gaming Apps: The Rise of Short Drama and AI Apps
The non-gaming app sector remained highly active in 2024, with the monthly active ad count exceeding 71,000, reflecting a 92% year-on-year surge. Overall ad volume continued to rise, with December ad volume doubling compared to January.
In the 2024 Global Mobile Marketing Strategy Whitepaper, we provide an in-depth analysis of short drama and AI apps, two of the most dynamic categories.
Short Drama Apps: A Chinese-Dominated Market
Chinese publishers led the short drama app advertising sector, securing a dominant position in high-traffic markets. According to AppGrowing data monitoring, 18 out of the top 20 short drama apps were developed by Chinese companies, with DramaBox by Dianzhong Technology topping the advertising charts.
AI Apps: The Growth of AI Companions
From Q1 to Q4, AI app advertising volumes increased by 20%. Among AI subcategories, AI companion apps saw rapid growth, with their share of total AI ad volume exceeding 23% from Q2 onwards, making it the second-largest AI subcategory. This trend underscores the strong demand among global users for AI-powered emotional companionship.
For a detailed analysis of market trends, global marketing strategies, and publisher insights, refer to the 2024 Global Mobile Marketing Strategy Whitepaper.
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