Pixalate’s Q2 2024 Abandoned Mobile Apps Report: $36.5 Million in Open Programmatic Ad Spend Went to ‘Abandoned’ Google Play and Apple App Store Apps
Pixalate’s research into “abandoned apps” (2+ years with no update) finds that 47% of likely child-directed mobile apps from the Apple App Store are abandoned (compared to 13% in Google Play Store); 3.3k+ abandoned mobile apps were found to share end-user location and user IP address in the open programmatic advertising bid stream
London, Sept. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pixalate, the global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the Q2 2024 Abandoned Mobile Apps Report, analyzing apps from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store that have been “abandoned.”
An app is considered abandoned by Pixalate if it has not been updated in at least two years. As of Q2 2024, over 972k apps are found to be abandoned between the Google Play Store (348k+) and Apple App Store (624k+) – down 42% YoY.
To compile the research, Pixalate’s data science team analyzed over 4.2 million mobile apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in Q2 2024. Pixalate’s report analyzes profile information about abandoned apps such as developer country of origin, app store category, and child-directedness under Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (as determined by Pixalate). The report also contains insight into the apps’ behaviors in the programmatic advertising bid stream, such as transmission of personal information, location data, and estimated ad spend.
Key Findings
- 972k+ mobile apps were found to be abandoned across Google & Apple app stores as of Q2 2024
- 42.5% decrease YoY in the number of abandoned mobile apps
- Over 159k abandoned mobile apps with open programmatic advertising
- $36.5 million in estimated open programmatic ad spend went to abandoned mobile apps in Q2 2024
- 3.3k+ of the abandoned mobile apps share end-user location and user IP address in the open programmatic advertising bid stream
- Over 11k of the abandoned mobile apps share end-user location in the open programmatic bid steam
- 47% of Apple-hosted apps that are likely directed to children are abandoned (13% on Google-hosted)
The full abandoned apps report includes:
- Abandoned apps by app store
- “Super” abandoned apps (5+ years with no update)
- Abandoned apps with ads
- Ad spend on abandoned apps
- Likely child-directed apps that are abandoned
- Abandoned apps by country/region of registry
- Abandoned apps by app store category
Abandoned apps may pose privacy risks for both children and consumers as updates to apps could incorporate not only bug fixes but also changes to data collection practices, consumer opt-in or age verification practices, and notices of privacy policy updates. In a note to developers regarding app abandonment, Apple emphasized the importance of keeping apps up-to-date to keep pace with “innovations in security and privacy.”
Download a complimentary copy of the Google Play Store and Apple App Store reports:
About Pixalate
Pixalate is a global platform for privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and data intelligence in the digital ad supply chain. Founded in 2012, Pixalate’s platform is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is MRC-accredited for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). www.pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this press release, and the Abandoned Mobile Apps Report (the “Report”), reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied.
CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@pixalate.com
