America continues to dominate the mobile gaming advertising space, maintaining its position as the top market globally. In the first half of 2024, mobile gaming ad spend saw a modest increase of 0.46%, reflecting slow but steady growth.
The total volume of mobile gaming app advertisers also grew by 0.25%, indicating that the market is holding steady. Such stability suggests that, while the landscape is not attracting a flood of new entrants, existing advertisers are committed and continuing their investment in the sector.
The U.S. mobile gaming advertising market is seeing fewer new entrants, as demonstrated by the 29% decline in the proportion of new advertisers in the first half of 2024. A drop could indicate that many companies looking to advertise in mobile games are already active in the space, or new advertisers are being more cautious with their ad budgets.
Despite this slowdown in fresh participants, established advertisers are continuing to solidify their presence. With fewer new competitors, seasoned advertisers are likely focusing on long-term strategies, making the market more predictable and stable but potentially less dynamic in terms of innovation.
Advertisers are going the distance with longer mobile campaigns
Mobile gaming advertisers are committing to longer campaign durations, a trend that cuts across nearly every game category. During the first half of 2024, campaign lengths increased as advertisers prioritized more sustained efforts.
There is a growing belief that extended campaigns provide more opportunities to engage users over time.
Longer campaigns allow for repeated exposure, creating a deeper connection between the brand and the user. For advertisers, the shift toward prolonged campaigns explains the need to maintain visibility in an increasingly saturated market, where brief engagements may no longer yield the desired impact.
Sports, social, and racing games lead in extended campaigns
Among the various gaming categories, sports games had the longest ad campaigns, with an average duration of 47 days. An extended timeframe speaks to the appeal of sports games, which often enjoy a dedicated user base willing to engage consistently over time.
Social gaming apps and racing games followed closely behind, also seeing increases in campaign length. These categories share the common trait of user loyalty, making them ideal platforms for advertisers looking to maximize the longevity of their ad placements.
Sustained growth in these sectors suggests that advertisers are identifying key genres where users are more likely to engage for longer periods, making them ideal targets for extended campaigns.
While most gaming categories are seeing longer ad campaigns, Shooting games and Tower Defense games buck the trend with slight reductions in campaign duration. However, these decreases are minimal and do not represent a broader shift away from longer campaigns in these genres.
Instead, it may indicate a fine-tuning of campaign strategy, with advertisers choosing more targeted or shorter bursts of activity to capture users’ attention in genres that tend to be more fast-paced and less conducive to longer ad runs.
Playable ads will be the future of mobile game ads
In 2024, playable ads have become a major tool in mobile gaming advertising, with their adoption more than doubling from 4% in 2023 to 7% in the first half of 2024. Such growth demonstrates advertisers’ growing interest in more interactive formats that allow users to engage directly with the content.
Unlike traditional static or video ads, playable ads give users the chance to experience a portion of the game or app before downloading it, creating a more immersive and positive interaction. For advertisers, this format offers a way to avoid being perceived as disruptive, while also providing a more memorable experience for the user.
While the exact distribution of playable ads by genre was not outlined in the data, the broad adoption of this ad format suggests that it is being embraced across a variety of gaming categories.
Given the appeal of interactivity, it’s likely that genres such as puzzle games, casual games, and even RPGs (Role-Playing Games) are seeing uptake in playable ads. These genres tend to attract users who appreciate engaging with content in a more hands-on manner, making them prime candidates for advertisers seeking to deploy playable ads effectively.
Video ads still rule, but playable ads are catching up
Despite the rise of playable ads, video ads continue to dominate the mobile gaming advertising space, accounting for more than 75% of all ads across gaming categories. Video ads offer the advantage of delivering rich, visual storytelling, which remains a compelling way to capture user attention.
As playable ads gain momentum, especially in interactive and gamified environments, the balance may begin to shift in favor of more dynamic formats. For now, video ads remain the go-to choice for advertisers, but the surge in playable ad adoption points to a changing market where user engagement and ad effectiveness could increasingly depend on interactivity.
Mobile gaming trends matter more than ever
Mobile gaming holds a dominant position within the broader gaming and advertising ecosystem, with 79% of all gamers engaging with mobile platforms. It makes mobile gaming a core area of focus for advertisers seeking to reach a wide and diverse audience.
As mobile games continue to grow in popularity, they offer a unique opportunity for brands to tap into a global user base that spends significant time interacting with their devices. High engagement rate shows the importance of crafting effective ad strategies that align with how users are consuming content on mobile platforms, making sure brands stay top-of-mind in a crowded market.
Longer campaigns and playable ads are changing mobile advertising
The mobile gaming ad market is changing as advertisers adopt longer campaigns and more interactive formats like playable ads. This can be interpreted as a deeper focus on user engagement, where the quality and duration of interaction take precedence over quick impressions.
Longer campaigns give advertisers the ability to build stronger relationships with users, keeping them engaged over extended periods. Meanwhile, playable ads offer an innovative way to draw users in, creating a more positive ad experience that doesn’t feel as intrusive.
Mobile gaming ad revenues are solid as advertisers go all-in
The combination of stable ad revenues and longer campaign durations highlights a growing commitment from advertisers in the mobile gaming space. Despite the relatively slow growth in total ad spend and the decline in new advertisers, the market remains strong. Advertisers are investing with confidence, aiming to forge lasting connections with their audience through extended engagements and interactive ad formats.
Key Takeaways
As mobile gaming continues to dominate the entertainment market, brands must ask themselves: Are you using the full potential of this expanding platform? With the rise of longer campaigns and immersive formats like playable ads, the window for capturing deep user engagement is wide open.
The question is no longer if your brand should invest in mobile gaming, but rather how well you can adapt and innovate to keep users coming back.
