The rollout of Apple’s iOS 14.5 and AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework in April 2021 pushed the mobile marketing industry to reassess the way it handles user privacy and tracking, as per Adjust’s new report.
Although early predictions hypothesised industry-wide opt-in rates as low as 5%, Adjust data shows that this figure is actually approximately 25% (having grown from 16% in May 2021), and gaming has hit 30%.
Adjust, a global mobile marketing analytics platform, has released its annual Mobile app trends report, showing that mobile app growth continued to accelerate globally in 2021.
After a year of industry changes and pandemic shake-ups, the app ecosystem saw growth in installs and sessions industrywide, with the fintech, e-commerce and gaming verticals emerging as standouts and seeing their highest in-app revenue months on record in 2021, according to Adjust data.
The global report — based on Adjust's top 2,000 apps and its total dataset of apps tracked — analyses long-term trends in installs, sessions, time spent in-app, retention, re-attribution rates, and more across the globe. These insights enable developers and marketers to better understand their audience and the state of the app economy.
“Despite the challenges of the past year, the mobile app ecosystem has continued to thrive, demonstrating how robust and adaptable the app marketing industry is,” said Simon “Bobby” Dussart, CEO of Adjust. “In order to meet users where they are, it’s imperative for marketers and UA teams to lean into data-driven strategies to improve retention, and continue to find, attribute, and measure new and existing audiences.”
Additional key takeaways from the report include:
Dussart noted that while 2022 will continue to pose challenges, it will be a year of opportunity, with the need and want for apps more pronounced than ever. “Apps not only provide outstanding, globally leading entertainment formats and convenient ways to complete tasks and enhance our daily lives; they solve problems and empower users in markets all around the world,” he said.
For additional findings, the full report can be accessed here.