Mobile Advertising Trends: Top iPhone Apps in July 2018

Pixalate has vast media insight on the world of mobile programmatic digital advertising, and we are able to harness our data to determine which apps are trending at any given moment.

The Apple App Store contains millions of apps, and this data cuts through the clutter to show marketers which apps are making the most money from digital advertising. This data can also help marketers identify new apps on which they can reach their audience.  

This post highlights the top trending apps in the United States, based on display and video programmatic advertising volume, on iPhones from July 2018.

Key takeaways:

• Words With Friends 2 is the only app in the top 10 for both display and video advertising on iPhones
• Social Networking (4) and Gaming (2) apps accounted for six of the top 10 spots in terms of display advertising on iPhones
• Gaming (4) and Entertainment (2) apps accounted for six of the top 10 for video advertising on iPhones
• A different weather app made the top 10 for display (WeatherBug) and video (The Weather Channel: Forecast), but both apps ranked in the top three

Trending iPhone apps for display advertising (July 2018)

• Four Social Networking apps made the top 10: two dating apps (Jack’d and Grindr) and two communication apps (Text Me! And Free Tone)

• The Games category had two apps in the top 10, including Words With Friends 2 and Solitaire Deluxe 2

• theCHIVE was the only Entertainment app in the top 10, but it ranked first in terms of programmatic display ad volume

Trending iPhone apps for video advertising (July 2018)

• Three Games (Words With Friends 2, Word Connect, and WGT Golf Game) and one Puzzle game (Panda Pop) all ranked in the top 10

• The only other category with more than one app in the top 10 was Entertainment (Viggle, Perk TV LIVE!) 

• The Weather Channel app is the only weather app in the top 10 for iPhone video advertising, but it ranked first overall

Methodology and Disclaimer

Pixalate examined mobile in-app display advertisements sold via programmatic channels throughout July 2018 for this study. The data is based on activity within apps that engage in programmatic advertising in the open marketplace. Invalid Traffic (IVT) — including General Invalid Traffic (GIVT) and Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) — were removed prior to ranking the apps. Any reference to "top" or "trending" apps refers solely to an app's Share of Voice of programmatic advertising impressions.

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