Impact of the war in Ukraine on advertising for mobile applications and games

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The war in Ukraine has had a major impact on the mobile apps and games industry since the conflict began in February.

As lives were lost by the thousands, advertisers understandably retreated when they realized people had bigger issues than downloading new mobile apps and games.

This had a big impact on advertisers and developers of mobile applications and games, as changes in demand affected their results in Ukraine and Russia in particular. Effective cost per thousand (eCPM) has taken a hit, said Valerie Alfimova, chief revenue officer at Appodeal Stack and business growth expert. Appodeal updates its mobile eCPM report quarterly in which it analyzes the eCPM of millions of ad impressions from over 70 ad networks worldwide.

“The entire industry has been affected on many levels as eCPMs have fallen,” Alfimova said. “At the end of March, eCPMs on Android dropped 75% and iOS dropped 71%. This happened right after the invasion. number of countries involved.”

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Appodeal looked at the regional effect on eCPMs due to the war in Ukraine.

But she noted that there has been a steady recovery since then as revenue returns to levels of pre-war period for the region.

For the latest report, the eCPM of Rewarded Video Ads on iOS saw the US lose its position in the top rankings, as in Q2 it was ranked third, just behind Japan and India. Australia. It is also surprising how emerging countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are booming in this specific segment, Appodeal said.

The Android Rewarded Video Ads eCPM ranked the US and Australia at the top, followed closely by East Asian countries. European countries such as the UK, Sweden, Germany and France lost positions in the top ranks, and their eCPM dropped.

eCPM for rewarded video ads in Russia and CIS markets saw a gradual recovery in Q2 2022. In March, eCPM fell by half on iOS and Android. But as the months passed, the eCPM quickly recovered, and by May it was back.

The eCPM of rewarded video ads in mature markets (US, Japan, UK, and many mature countries) has fallen since March. Australia seems on...