Google Dominates Scale and Facebook Leads in Quality: AppsFlyer Performance Index 2021

New AppsFlyer report shows iOS witnessing a 20% drop in installs.

AppsFlyer yesterday released the 12^th edition of its Performance IndexOpens a new window that ranks the top media sources in mobile advertising. The company analyzed 580 media sources and 16,000 apps for its 2021 edition. Google surged past Facebook at the top of Retention Index’s Universal Power Ranking in Index 11.

iOS Witnesses a 20% Drop in Installs

Apple’s enforcement of the AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework in early Spring 2021 is expected to impact the mobile app ecosystem significantly.

In this Index, covering the second half of 2020 (H2), AppsFlyer found this impact taking shape. In what way? The share of iOS in the non-organic install pie has dropped by 20%, while its share in the organic installs pie has remained unchanged, as did the number of apps running campaigns on the platform. For comparison, Android’s NOI (number of installs) share showed the opposite trend, increasing by 6% during the same period.

A 30% jump in the cost per install (CPI) on iOS in H2 is the main reason behind the significant NOI drop (Android cost increased by only 10%). The rise in media cost for iOS users was driven by two main factors:

1. The share of users who enabled Limited Ad Tracking (LAT) increased by 40% from 23% in H1 to 32% in H2 — likely the result of increased talk about user privacy and specifically Apple’s ATT framework introduced in June. With fewer iOS users to target, the competition over these relatively high-value users increases, driving costs upwards.
2. COVID-19 led to accelerated digital transformation as more traditional brands entered the app market in force while existing app players ran aggressive marketing campaigns of their own. A surge in demand quickly followed, particularly in iOS strongholds like North America and Western Europe.

With less supply because of LAT and more demand because of COVID-19 effects, CPIs spiked, leaving marketers with far fewer installs for the same budget. For example, CPI hit $3 in North America and $2.3 in Western Europe in H2, leading to a 25% drop in the number of apps with more than 1 million iOS-attributed non-organic installs in H2 compared to H1. On Android, there was a 7% increase during the same time frame.

As a result, no less than 17 of the top 20 media sources were attributed for fewer iOS installs in H2 compared to H1 (meaning it has affected both self-reporting networks or SRNs and non-SRNs). On average, these 17 networks had 25% fewer iOS installs in Index 12. Therefore, as far as index rankings are concerned, networks that rely on iOS were more impacted than others.

“The increase in end users enabling Limited Ad Tracking (LAT) is likely due to the growing attention around user privacy in general and Apple’s privacy changes in particular,” said Shani Rosenfelder, head, Content and Mobile Insights, AppsFlyer. “Networks that rely on iOS were impacted across the board, as were the advertisers using them.”

“Given the massive changes within the advertising industry over the past year, we expected the Performance Index data to highlight a similar story,” said Ziv Peled, chief customer officer, AppsFlyer. “Advertisers understand that they have to adapt to this evolving landscape, and ensure they choose the right measurement partner to guide them through this journey. Brands must be fully prepared to offer their users an impeccable user experience, while upholding the highest standards of user privacy.”

Google Gains Ground in Remarketing; Facebook’s Quality Across Indices Stands Out

In the battle of the giants of mobile app marketing, Google extended its lead over Facebook atop the Retention Index’s Universal Power Ranking: from 69 vs. 68 power ranking score in Index 11 (covering H1 2020) to 69 vs. 64 in Index 12 (covering H2 2020).

The search giant’s share in the global non-organic app installs pie increased by 15% in Index 12, driven by its continued growth in Android, especially in developing markets and India in particular. Its share in the Android pie remained relatively unchanged in North America and Western Europe and the global iOS pie.

Facebook’s share in the pie dropped 10% in Index 12, mostly due to iOS losses. The social network’s iOS numbers were lower in Index 12, most likely due to a sharp rise in CPI, especially in strong iOS markets like North America and Western Europe.

While Google’s success is driven by Android, Facebook’s performance is mainly driven by iOS. Therefore, the reduced iOS scale in Index 12 did have an impact, contributing to the increased gap in the global power ranking mentioned above.

However, when it comes to quality, the social network reigns supreme. It is ranked 2nd in the average of quality metrics across all the different indices — a remarkable feat for a media source with such scale.

Facebook’s retention score was 16% higher than Google’s in Index 12, mainly due to a growing divide in Android and among non-gaming apps. On the gaming iOS front, Google narrowed the quality gap, but Facebook still had the upper hand.

The social network’s quality was also demonstrated in the IAP Index (In-App Purchase Index, based on the key share of paying users metric), showing it can deliver a high percentage of high-value users at scale. Although both Facebook and Google improved their quality score by 20% in Index 12, the former’s number is still significantly higher.

A look at the Remarketing Index shows Facebook continues to dominate both volume and quality metrics, but when you are so large, it is harder to grow. Google, on the other hand, has significantly increased its efforts in this activity. It grew its share in the app remarketing conversions pie by no less than 65% in Index 12 after opening up remarketing to more advertisers as part of the broad release of its ACe product. Most of its growth was the result of major gains in North America and Western Europe. However, Facebook’s Remarketing quality score is a significant 25% higher than Google’s.

Duopoly Remarketing Domination More Pronounced Than in User Acquisition

Facebook and Google continued to dominate the Remarketing Index in Index 12. In fact, their share of the remarketing pie was 22% higher than their share of the app install pie.

A split shows Facebook well ahead in both volume and quality. However, Google gained a significant share in this edition, particularly in Europe and North America, especially in non-gaming. Facebook is far ahead in gaming.

Remerge climbed three spots to reach an impressive #3 global power ranking position. Most of its success was driven by volume in non-gaming and quality in gaming; on a regional level, its best performance was seen in APAC and Europe, where it ranked 3rd.

Twitter held its #4 position — mainly the result of success among non-gaming apps where it was 3rd best player.

Criteo also maintained its #5 spot in the global power ranking, although it did improve its ranking in North America Shopping to reach the top 3. Criteo also made the top 5 in Shopping in Latin America, where it enjoyed significant scale, and in the Middle East & Africa.

RTB House climbed two spots to #6 in the global power ranking, powered by an impressive 3rd place in the global Shopping index — a two-slot climb compared to Index 11.