Key observations on global apps in October:
- Multiple new web fiction apps like 【Read4Fun】 surge in advertising;
- Shopping apps 【Lazada】 and 【Falabella】 increase advertising for year-end shopping season;
- User growth for AI photo editor 【EPIK】 leads to 3X revenue growth;
- Photo sharing social app 【Lapse】 gains popularity in North America, downloads skyrocket.
Top 20 by Advertising
Web fiction reading app 【Read4Fun】 launched this May and started advertising in July. iOS advertising grew 99% in October, still in a growth period. 【Read4Fun】 especially touts “AI content moderation”, 24/7 monitoring platform activity to ensure a smooth user experience.
According to SocialPeta, the October advertising overview for 【Read4Fun】 is outlined as follows:
- Clear targeting only in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, over 40% of creatives in the US;
- Very balanced channel mix of FB, Audience Network, Instagram, and Messenger each around 25% share;
- Recent creative is purely video; most popular is a cute video of a baby and kitten playing in bed. Ad copy is a novel excerpt in first person about an unrequited love, with keywords like divorce, child, full of melodrama.
Besides 【Read4Fun】, other apps with top ranks and high growth are mostly recently launched web fiction apps. Their positioning differs:
【FicWorld】 touts “carefully crafted by top authors” and “stable fast updates”. Launching at the end of August, the iOS advertising grew 95% in October.
According to SocialPeta, the October advertising overview for 【FicWorld】 is outlined as follows:
- Target markets identical to 【Read4Fun】: US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand; most US creatives at nearly 49% share;
- Channels and creative splits also similar to 【Read4Fun】;
- Most popular new ad is a crying woman and man short video, seemingly depicting unrequited love. Ad copy is also a novel excerpt in first person about two men vying for one woman.
【CrazyNovel】 launched in July with 130% iOS advertising growth in October. It focuses on “smart recommendations based on what users may like” and “over 200 popular novel updates weekly”. Notably, its most popular new ad promotes the same book as【Read4Fun】‘s top ad, but focuses on castle scenery alluding to the story’s setting and characters’ lifestyles.
Industry practitioners can observe multiple web fiction apps’ top creatives to see which frequently used ad copy indicates currently trending works.
【PragerU】 is a controversial political education app launched in 2016. It presents complex topics through short video courses and speeches on politics, economics, society, culture, etc. Its distinct political stance keeps discussion of the app active online.
In mid October, the app was authorized to provide educational content to schools in Montana, US, stirring new controversy. 【PragerU】 capitalized on the attention with over 62% iOS advertising growth in October.
According to SocialPeta, the October advertising overview for 【PragerU】 is outlined as follows:
- Strongest marketing in the US, Australia, and Canada, totaling over 33% of creatives;
- For media, news has higher share around 27%, followed by casual around 17%;
- AdMob dominates channels with over 97% share;
- Video makes up around 52% of creatives, slightly higher than 48% for images. Most popular new ad was an interview with a nationalist singer joining the PragerU community.
Top 20 by Revenue
Notable App Store revenue gainers:
- AI photo editor 【EPIK】 grew 341.7% month-over-month, with top revenue from the US at 27.1% share, Japan 18.5%, Korea 13.3%;
- Comic reader【WEBTOON】 grew 30.8% month-over-month, with 91.5% revenue from Korea and 3.9% from the US;
Notable Google Play revenue gainers:
- Short video app 【Likee】 grew 50% month-over-month, with top revenue from Russia 19.3%, US 16.9%, Germany 6.8%;
- Navigation app 【onX Hunt】 grew 31.6% month-over-month, with 97.4% revenue from the US and 2% from Canada.
Top 20 by Downloads
Notable App Store download gainers:
- AI photo editor 【EPIK】 grew 440% month-over-month, with top downloads from Vietnam 15.5%, US 12.9%, Japan 11.5%. The user spike clearly drove revenue growth;
- Photo sharing social app L【apse】 grew 95.8% month-over-month, with 94.7% downloads from the US and 5% from Canada.
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Notable Google Play download gainers:
- Communication app 【Getcontact】 grew 58.1% month-over-month, with most downloads from Indonesia, then Russia and Turkey at 48.3%, 13.1%, 10.5% share;
- Security app 【App Lock】 grew 91.8% month-over-month, with most downloads from India, Egypt, and Russia at 14.9%, 6.9%, 5.9% share.
This summarizes the advertising & revenue on App Store and Google Play globally for non-game apps, as well as insights into non-game app downloads globally in October 2023. For more mobile marketing data, please visit: www.SocialPeta.com.
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