Advertising makes up the lion’s share of mobile app revenues

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Key stat: US mobile in-app ad spend will be about four times higher than in-app purchase spend this year, at $159.24 billion compared with $42.37 billion, according to our forecast.

Beyond the chart:

• In-app purchase spend is increasing, with gaming generating the majority of purchases, but ad spend will continue to dominate.
• Gaming saw healthy growth during the pandemic, but a drop in activity in 2022 also led to a drop in spending on virtual goods.
• In-app ad spend growth remains healthy at 14.8% this year, translating to an additional $20.52 billion in ad sales over 2022.

Use this chart:

• Allocate app ad budgets.
• Understand mobile revenues.

More like this:

• Mobile App Monetization 2023 (Insider Intelligence subscription required)
• Despite continued strength in mobile advertising, app publishers look for alternatives
• US social app spending grows to 5 times its pre-pandemic level
• Money is still pouring into app install ad spending, boosting Apple and others

More Chart of the Day:

• 9/22 - B2B digital ad spend growth lags
• 9/21 - Subscribe and save
• 9/20 - Banking on traditional
• 9/19 - Top platforms by influencer marketing spending
• 9/18 - Temu vs. Amazon, Target, and Walmart