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PALO ALTO, Calif. and LONDON, August 3, 2022 -- Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Q2 2022 Delisted Mobile Apps Report, containing insights about mobile apps removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The analysis helps developers and advertisers recognize potential threats of privacy and compliance breaches.
Pixalate analyzed more than 5 million mobile apps across the Google and Apple app stores, and found that nearly 600,000 were delisted in Q2 2022 — an increase of almost 3x from the 220k delisted in Q1 2022.
Key findings:
Through analysis of delisted Google Play Store and Apple App Store apps in Q2 2022, Pixalate found that:
Combined, apps delisted in Q2 2022 had over 117 million user ratings prior to delisting, but the majority of them (82%) had no detected app country of registry. The graphic below shows the top 10 most popular apps delisted from the Google Play Store in Q2 2022, and you can download a list of the top 100 most popular apps delisted here.
Of note, Apple delisted 5,000 apps in Q1 2022 before an apparent sweeping clean-up in Q2 2022. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of apps delisted from Apple had not been updated in at least two years, compared to only 20% from Google. This indicates Apple may be targeting apps that have become “abandoned.”
Delisted apps may pose a privacy and security risk to consumers as they can remain installed on the user’s device, and the user may not know they need to delete the app.
What’s inside the report
Pixalate’s Q2 2022 Delisted Mobile Apps Report includes:
Download a copy of the Q2 2022 Delisted Mobile Apps Report for free. You will also be provided with a list of the top 100 most popular apps that were delisted in Q2 2022.
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About Pixalate
Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising. We work 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value. Pixalate offers the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and OTT/CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this report reflects Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees.
It is important to also note that the mere fact that an app has been delisted, does not appear to have a published privacy policy or registration address, or is registered in a traditional tax haven country or a country that appears to be receiving heightened scrutiny by, among other governmental bodies, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), does not necessarily mean that such app, or its publisher, is actually exploiting data.
Instead, Pixalate is merely rendering an opinion that these facts may be suggestive of heightened risks to data subjects.
Apps can be delisted for a variety of reasons, and Pixalate is neither asserting nor assigning a reason for any delisting action. Additionally, the initiator of the delisting is not generally publicly-available information, so it is often not possible to know whether the removal was triggered by the app store or the developer.
Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report facts as they pertain to delisted Android and iOS apps.
Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google LLC. “Android robot” by Google LLC is licensed under CC BY 3.0. Apple App Store and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
