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The State of Media Buying H1 2024 – United States Spotlight

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Sep, 2024 www.mintegral.com

www.mintegral.com
Methodology
This report is based on data
collected between H2 2023 to
H1 2024, with YoY comparisons
based on H1 2023 .
Reference Period
The United States, Japan,
South Korea, Southeast Asia,
the United Kingdom, France,
Germany, Brazil, and over
100 others. Our data
excludes Mainland China.
Market Scope
Action & Shooting, Adventure,
Arcade, Board, Card, Casino,
Music, Racing, Role -Playing,
Simulation, Sports, Strategy,
Trivia, Word, and others.
Game Genre
Metrics
1. App Advertiser Volume: The total number of apps advertising in a set period.​
2. Ad Purchase Volume: The quantity of ads bought by apps.​
3. Ad Impression Volume: The count of in -app ads displayed in a given period.​
4. Ad Format Adoption: The number of ads displayed by format, relative to other formats.​
5. Ad Campaign Duration: The length of time (in days) a typical campaign runs for.​
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Key Findings
#2
In ad impressions.​
#1
In number of advertisers globally.
Video Ads
are the most popular ad format in the region.
The US Market
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Introduction
There has been no more volatile app market than gaming in
the past decade. However, opportunities exist for app
companies ready to strike.​
The market is evolving: hyper -casual has grown into hybrid
casual. Live Ops continues to put the onus on retention, and
rewarded ads gain real traction. New monetization strategies
like value -driven bundles keep players engaged.​
For success in 2024 and beyond, data -driven approaches
remain crucial. Our latest report is a valuable tool for
marketers looking for an edge on the competition.​
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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The US ranks 1 st in the number of advertisers and 2 nd in
ad impressions .
Key Market Rankings, H1 2024
Key Market Ad Impression
Volume Ranking
SEA 1
US 2
Middle East 3
India 4
Key Market App Advertiser
Volume Ranking
US 1
SEA 2
India 3
Middle East 4
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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36771 38338 36863
18836 17977
13099
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
H1 2023 H2 2023 H1 2024
Number of App Advertisers Number of New App Advertisers
App Advertiser Volume
Since 2023, the number
of US -based app advertisers
remains stable, increasing
just 0.25% YoY. The
proportion of new advertisers
fell by 29%.​
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Ad Creative Volume
Ad purchases
increased slightly (by
0.46% YoY). However,
the proportion of
purchases of new ads
decreased by 12%.​
1767218
1995779
1775317
1347661
1575021
1181108
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
H1 2023 H2 2023 H1 2024
Ad Creative Volume New Ad Creative Volume
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Sports games rapidly rose
up the charts of ad
impressions by genre (an
increase of six places).
Puzzle games rank first,
and Match games fell from
the top spot.
Changes in Ad Impression Ranking
of the Top 10 Mobile Game Genres
Ranking
H1 2024 Genres
Ranking
Compared to
H1 2023
6 Casino —
7 Hypercasual -3
8 Shooting +4
9 Sports +6
10 Chess and Card —
Ranking
H1 2024 Genres
Ranking
Compared to
H1 2023
1 Puzzle +1
2 Match -1
3 Sim -Management +2
4 Strategy -1
5 RPG +3
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Video ads are the most prevalent ad type, dominating the top
genres. Playable ads are a casual -friendly genre, only used in
1% of RPG ads, but 13% of Hypercasual .
23%
5% 7% 7%
76% 82% 85% 87%
1%
13% 8% 6%
RPG Hypercasual Puzzle Match
Banner Ads
Video Ads
Playable Ads
Ad Types by the Top Genres, H1 2024
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Playable ads are most used
by Hypercasual (13%) titles.
Shooting (9%) follows close
behind.​
1%
2%
3%
5%
6%
7%
8%
8%
9%
13%
RPG
Strategy
Casino
Play-to-Earn
Match
Sim-Management
Puzzle
Action
Shooting
Hypercasual
Playable Ad Format Adoption in H1 2024, by Genre
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The use of playable ads
has more than doubled,
from 3% in H1 2023
to 7% in H1 2024.​
Playable Ad Format Adoption
3%
5%
7%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
H1 2023 H2 2023 H1 2024
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Video ads dominate as
the most popular format.
Match (87%) games show them
the most among their ad
format mix.​
76%
80%
82%
83%
85%
85%
85%
86%
86%
87%
RPG
Sim-Management
Hypercasual
Strategy
Puzzle
Casino
Action
Shooting
Play-to-Earn
Match
Video Ad Format Adoption in H1 2024, by Genre
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Sports game ad campaigns ran the longest (47 days) than any
other. RPG campaigns (23.6) ran at almost half that rate.​
Average Ad Campaign D uration of Mobile Games (Days)
47.0
41.9 39.0 36.1 34.9 33.9 33.7 32.8 32.2 31.7 30.7 30.5 29.1 28.3 26.3 26.0 24.9 24.1 23.6
H1 2024 H2 2023
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Challenges
Strategies
Result
Achieve revenue growth through profitable and scalable
user acquisition.
Simultaneously target ROAS and CPI to maximize ROI.
Increase in ROAS
1.5
US Google Play
Download Chart
for Free Games
2nd
Mintegral case study: Winning the US market through intelligent bidding​
Screw Puzzle: Nuts and Bolts
Screw Puzzle: Nuts and Bolts
x #1
Global Partner
Publisher: AdOne
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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The hyper -casual gaming market, especially in the U.S., is
fiercely competitive. To achieve sustainable growth, a multi –
faceted approach that combines major media platforms with
alternative channels like SDKs is essential.
Mintegral’s focus on Target ROAS and intelligent bidding has
been instrumental in optimizing our user acquisition efforts
and driving efficient growth.
Jessie
Director of Mint Games
Check out more client testimonials and how
Mintegral can help apps grow on our website.
THE STATE OF GAMES MEDIA BUYING 2024 – US SPOTLIGHT

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Mintegral is the leading programmatic advertising
platform dedicated to helping mobile apps grow
globally. With access to premium traffic, industry –
leading machine learning, and interactive
creatives, Mintegral’s AppGrowth , Retargeting,
and Monetization solutions enable marketers to
scale audiences and revenue with ease.
Discover more at www.mintegral.com .