Sign in Subscribe
AI

GenAI app spending hits $824 million as marketers adopt AI agents

AppsFlyer reveals GenAI app advertising reached $824 million while 57% of marketers deploy AI agents for technical automation across $109 billion mobile market.

Luis Rijo

• 11 min read
GenAI app spending hits $824 million as marketers adopt AI agents

AppsFlyer released comprehensive mobile app marketing data on December 10, 2025, revealing that generative AI applications attracted $824 million in advertising spend across iOS and Android platforms while marketers increasingly deployed AI agents to automate performance workflows. The San Francisco-based mobile attribution company analyzed 32 billion paid app installs from 45,000 apps spanning gaming, ecommerce, finance, and lifestyle categories.

Global app marketing spend reached $109 billion in 2025, according to the report, with user acquisition accounting for $78 billion and remarketing contributing $31.3 billion. The data shows the mobile advertising landscape undergoing significant restructuring along multiple dimensions, from platform divergence between iOS and Android to regional spending shifts and the emergence of AI-powered automation in campaign management.

GenAI apps ranked as the fastest-growing category on Android and fourth on iOS during 2025. Install volume for these applications increased 16% year-over-year, with spending split between $516 million on iOS and $308 million on Android. The category encompasses creative tools, productivity applications, and AI assistant experiences that have transitioned from experimental offerings to mainstream mobile experiences.

PPC Land Newsletter

Subscribe PPC Land newsletter ✉️ for similar stories like this one

Subscribe

"Many marketers say they are still struggling to measure clear ROI from AI, yet the adoption curve tells a different story," said Inna Weiner, VP Product, Data and AI at AppsFlyer, according to the announcement. "GenAI apps are accelerating in consumer adoption, and behind the scenes marketers are increasingly deploying agents to simplify workflows and improve efficiency."

iOS drives global spending growth while Android stagnates

User acquisition spending reached $78 billion in 2025, representing 13% growth year-over-year. Growth came entirely from iOS, which surged 35% while Android remained essentially flat at 1%. Non-gaming applications led the expansion, rising 18% to $53 billion, while gaming investments grew just 3% to $25 billion.

Shopping category investment increased 70% overall and 123% on iOS during 2025, according to the report. The growth stemmed largely from China-based ecommerce budgets that materially shifted category and regional spending patterns. Casinos and gambling also recorded sharp gains at 127% year-over-year growth.

Regional performance diverged sharply between platforms. Spain recorded 157% year-over-year growth with roughly 50% share uplift. Italy grew 143%, while the United Kingdom increased 92% with a 35% share gain. Canada climbed 87% year-over-year. Germany and France rose 43% and 52%, with 30% and 23% share gains respectively.

The United States maintained its position as the world's largest app marketing economy at 42% of user acquisition spend, according to the data. Despite this dominant share, the country still posted strong growth of 40% on iOS and 19% on Android.

Several Android-heavy markets experienced share declines despite absolute growth. Brazil grew 85% year-over-year yet dropped 43% in share. India rose only 6% year-over-year while losing 28% share. Mexico saw a similar 28% share decline. Other markets including Australia, Turkey, and the United States saw growth without notable share shifts, while Vietnam fell 46%.

These patterns reflect AppsFlyer's earlier Performance Index findings released December 3, 2025, which analyzed 16.2 billion non-organic installs and revealed tightening competition across iOS and Android ecosystems.

Follow PPC Land

Follow PPC Land on your socials: LinkedIn, Google (U.S. only), Google News, X, Mastodon, Bluesky, Reddit, Threads or via RSS

Remarketing spend rises as retention becomes strategic priority

Remarketing investment reached $31.3 billion in 2025, increasing 37% year-over-year as brands prioritized reengaging existing users over acquiring new ones. iOS accounted for $17 billion of remarketing spend, rising 71% year-over-year, while Android reached $14 billion with 10% growth.

Remarketing's share of total app marketing spend rose from 25% in 2024 to 29% in 2025, according to the report. The shift reflects growing recognition that reactivating dormant users delivers better unit economics than competing for new customers in increasingly crowded markets.

Category trends on iOS showed remarketing gaining traction across utility-based and commerce-driven verticals. Transportation remarketing expenditures leaped 362% year-over-year. Travel rose 145%, while Finance increased 135%. Shopping, already the largest category by spending, still grew 66% year-over-year.

Android remarketing growth concentrated in emerging markets, rising 30% to 130% year-over-year in several regions, while mature markets declined. The United States fell 30%, and parts of Western Europe contracted. Category expansion proved steadier on Android, led by Finance at 71%, Utility and Productivity at 47%, and Transportation at 28%. Gaming remained flat at 5%, and Shopping declined 1%.

iOS remarketing's year-over-year growth reflected broad geographic expansion beyond traditional strongholds. Android-driven markets saw sharp increases across Central Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, with multiple countries posting 100% year-over-year growth. Western markets also expanded, generally in the 50% to 85% year-over-year range. Saudi Arabia declined 11%, representing the only market contraction.

The value of remarketing stems from its ability to increase lifetime value through repeated purchases, subscription retention, and renewed session activity. Reengagement provides an efficient method to reactivate dormant users, particularly in categories with fast early churn rates.

Research firm Gartner reported in 2025 that 80% of future revenue for mobile businesses will come from just 20% of existing customers, according to AppsFlyer's analysis. This concentration underscores the strategic imperative driving remarketing investment growth.

Technical AI agents dominate early adoption phase

AppsFlyer analyzed AI agent usage for the first time in 2025, revealing distinct patterns in how marketers integrate artificial intelligence into performance workflows. The data shows 57% of agent deployments focused on technical automation including configuration checks and data-integrity validation. Business optimization agents accounted for 32% of deployments.

The distribution indicates marketers primarily use AI as a defensive layer, ensuring data accuracy and system reliability before venturing into strategic applications. Gaming marketers used agents to improve efficiency and protect profit margins, while retail and fintech teams relied on automation to scale traffic and volume.

AppsFlyer separately analyzed over 10,000 queries submitted to its AI Assistant, finding that 60% involved complex analytical questions rather than simple lookups. Among these sophisticated queries, 38% focused on efficiency and spend metrics including return on ad spend and cost per install. Just 22% emphasized volume-oriented goals.

Query patterns revealed two distinct marketer personas. Gaming marketers acted as "Profit Maximizers," with 57% of their queries focused on margin protection and efficiency metrics. Retail and fintech marketers operated as "Growth Hunters," prioritizing volume and traffic goals at 37% of queries.

The findings suggest marketers maintain active supervision over AI-powered insights rather than delegating campaign management entirely to automated systems. This "trust but verify" approach reflects the current phase of AI adoption in performance marketing.

The data aligns with broader industry developments in AI agent deployment. Amazon announced its Ads Agent on November 11, 2025, automating campaign management tasks across Amazon Marketing Cloud and DSP. Adobe launched its Experience Platform Agent Orchestrator on September 10, 2025, for managing agents across marketing workflows.

McKinsey data indicates $1.1 billion in equity investment flowed into agentic AI during 2024, with job postings related to the technology increasing 985% from 2023 to 2024, according to reporting published in July 2025.

Implementation challenges persist despite growing investment. Gartner predicted in June 2025 that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027 due to escalating costs, unclear business value, and inadequate risk controls.

AppsFlyer previously introduced its Model Context Protocol tool on July 17, 2025, enabling marketers to access attribution data through natural language queries. The company positions the MCP integration as part of its strategy to transform how marketing teams interact with performance data.

Advertise on ppc land

Buy ads on PPC Land. PPC Land has standard and native ad formats via major DSPs and ad platforms like Google Ads. Via an auction CPM, you can reach industry professionals.

Learn more

Platform fragmentation deepens across regional markets

Paid install data revealed iOS gains of at least 25% in Western markets while Android showed flat or negative growth across the same regions. Western iOS paid installs rose between 25% and 84% year-over-year, with Shopping and Finance categories posting gains between 48% and 200%.

Non-Western markets demonstrated even larger iOS lifts at 84% to 189%, with several Shopping markets exceeding 100% year-over-year growth. Finance reached 253% in some regions, according to the data.

Android displayed uneven patterns. Western markets showed low or negative movement, with the United States down 8%, United Kingdom down 1%, Germany down 1%, Italy down 2%, and Australia down 9%. Major non-Western markets delivered nearly all Android gains at 10% to 55%, with Shopping and Gaming showing ranges between 32% and 71% but more negative results than iOS.

Remarketing conversions followed similar structures. Western iOS markets generally grew 34% to 94% year-over-year, with the United States up 49%, Germany up 94%, United Kingdom up 52%, France up 34%, and Canada up 46%. Non-Western markets including Mexico, Brazil, India, and Indonesia posted triple-digit gains, though from small baseline audiences.

Android remarketing conversions remained mixed in Western markets, ranging from negative 7% in the United States to modest positives like 9% in the United Kingdom and 10% in Germany. Sustained growth came primarily from non-Western countries including Mexico at 177%, Saudi Arabia at 85%, Nigeria at 210%, and Thailand at 51%.

The divergence creates strategic implications for advertisers managing campaigns across both platforms. Google announced enhanced measurement tools for iOS app campaigns on May 2, 2025, including streamlined App Attribution Partner integrations to address iOS-specific tracking challenges. Meta enhanced its value optimization capabilities on November 3, 2025, delivering 29% higher return on ad spend while improving alignment with mobile measurement partners.

Cross-platform behavior establishes mobile as persistent base

AppsFlyer examined cross-platform user journeys for the first time in 2025, analyzing how consumers move between devices in gaming and non-gaming verticals. The data reveals mobile consistently holds 60-80% of user activity even as consumers alternate to connected television, PC, and console platforms.

Gaming showed a dominant mobile-PC loop capturing 79% of final-stage activity. Users begin with mobile accounting for 67% of Step 1 traffic, transition to PC in Step 2, and alternate between platforms without deviation. Mobile serves as the persistent endpoint while PC functions as a mandatory bridge for even-numbered steps.

A secondary console-PC loop follows identical patterns but substitutes console for mobile. This path starts with just 14% of traffic and shrinks to 8% by the final step, confirming mobile as the true destination rather than a transitional platform.

Non-gaming revealed an "M-shaped" pattern where mobile initiates 60.3% of journeys in Step 1. Nearly 57% of total volume flows from mobile to CTV in Step 2, surges back to mobile at 63.6% in Step 3, swings to CTV at 54.8% in Step 4, and settles on mobile for Step 5 at 60.2%.

A secondary "W-shaped" pattern starts from CTV at 38.2% of initial volume, switches to mobile in Step 2, continues to CTV in Step 3, returns to mobile in Step 4, and ends on CTV in Step 5. While significant, this flow remains smaller than the mobile-initiated wave.

The patterns indicate mobile functions as the persistent home base orchestrating entire user journeys across all verticals. This positioning requires engagement strategies that treat smartphones as the primary controller of cross-platform experiences rather than merely one touchpoint among equals.

The cross-platform data matters for marketers redirecting budgets toward mobile apps as AI-powered search features disrupt traditional web traffic patterns. MediaLink research published October 20, 2025, sized the global market for brand-focused programmatic advertising in mobile apps, open web display, and connected television at approximately $18 billion in 2025, with projected annual growth of 13-15% through 2029.

2026 outlook: Scarcity drives spending despite slowing growth

AppsFlyer expects global user acquisition spend to rise in 2026 despite the mobile market experiencing slowing user growth. The increase stems from a fundamental scarcity of attention as generative AI and low-code tools have lowered barriers to entry for both ad creation and app development.

This dynamic floods the market with more products and infinite creative variations, shifting the bottleneck from creation to consumption. Fierce competition for the same eyeballs ultimately drives media cost inflation as brands bid aggressively to cut through the noise.

The scarcity forces a massive structural pivot in where budgets flow. eMarketer and Magna forecasts indicate mobile video ad spending will surpass search spend for the first time in 2026 as advertisers reallocate budgets toward high-impact short-form video on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Efficiency in 2026 will come from the "share of attention" commanded by video creatives rather than traditional keyword targeting.

Remarketing investment is expected to accelerate in 2026 as the mobile market matures and user acquisition costs rise. The strategic shift toward a "Retention First" economy reflects the reality that reactivating dormant users proves more capital-efficient than battling for new customers in crowded markets where "growth at all costs" has been replaced by profitability requirements.

AI agent adoption will likely shift from "Defensive" to "Offensive" applications. The current "Trust but Verify" phase, where users manually audit AI insights, is set to mature into "Verify then Automate" as validated checks become autonomous agents. Marketers' roles will transition to strategic orchestrators setting guardrails while allowing AI to address wasting campaigns with greater speed.

eMarketer forecasts emerging markets will lead digital ad growth with double-digit gains. The "Next Billion Users" will be acquired mainly on Android in non-Western regions, while Western spend pivots toward retention and remarketing on iOS.

These projections reflect broader industry trends toward performance-focused campaigns. IAB research published September 25, 2025, showed 42% of buyers plan to focus more on performance campaigns while 39% intend to shift spending toward channels with better measurement capabilities.

PPC Land Newsletter

Subscribe PPC Land newsletter ✉️ for similar stories like this one

Subscribe

Timeline

PPC Land Newsletter

Subscribe PPC Land newsletter ✉️ for similar stories like this one

Subscribe

Summary

Who: AppsFlyer, the mobile attribution and marketing measurement company based in San Francisco, released the analysis. The company serves over 15,000 businesses worldwide and analyzed anonymous aggregate data covering 32 billion paid app installs from 45,000 apps. Inna Weiner, VP Product, Data and AI at AppsFlyer, provided commentary on the findings.

What: The report revealed that global app marketing spend reached $109 billion in 2025, with user acquisition at $78 billion and remarketing at $31.3 billion. GenAI app advertising hit $824 million across iOS and Android, growing 16% in installs and ranking as the fastest-growing category on Android. The analysis showed 57% of AI agent deployments focused on technical automation while 32% supported business optimization. iOS user acquisition spend grew 35% while Android remained flat. Remarketing spend increased 37% year-over-year, rising from 25% to 29% of total app marketing investment.

When: AppsFlyer released the analysis on December 10, 2025, covering mobile app trends throughout 2025. The data encompasses the full year's activity across both iOS and Android platforms, revealing patterns that emerged over 12 months of advertiser behavior and consumer adoption.

Where: The analysis covered global app marketing activity spanning gaming, ecommerce, finance, lifestyle, and other categories across 32 billion paid installs. Regional performance diverged significantly, with Europe emerging as a standout growth region while the United States maintained its position as the world's largest app marketing economy at 42% of user acquisition spend. Western markets showed iOS gains of at least 25% while Android demonstrated flat or negative growth. Non-Western markets delivered most Android gains.

Why: The report matters for the marketing community because it documents fundamental restructuring in mobile advertising across multiple dimensions. The iOS-Android divergence requires platform-specific strategies rather than unified approaches. The rise of remarketing from 25% to 29% of total spend signals a strategic shift toward retention economics as user acquisition costs increase. AI agent adoption at 57% for technical automation and 32% for business optimization indicates early but meaningful movement toward supervised automation in campaign management. GenAI apps reaching $824 million in spending demonstrates consumer demand for AI-powered experiences that marketers must understand to reach engaged audiences. The cross-platform data showing mobile holding 60-80% of activity establishes mobile as the persistent home base for user engagement across gaming and non-gaming verticals.