# Ad Monetization in Mobile Games – Benchmark Report 2026 Source: https://tenjin.com/blog/ad-mon-gaming-2026/ ## Introduction Earnings from showing ads in mobile games have seen better years, but despite the challenges, ad revenue opportunities remain strong. More and more game publishers are increasingly adopting “hybrid monetization” – a mix of in-app advertising (IAA) and in-app purchases (IAP). While experts continue to debate the realistic ratio of IAA to IAP, whether it should be 50/50, 70/30, or 80/20, one thing is clear: ad revenue constitutes a significant portion of revenue for the majority of mobile publishers. Tenjin has partnered with [Clever Ads Solutions]() (CAS) to provide exclusive benchmark data to assist publishers. The report includes market share data for ad monetization channels and countries, based on a sample from Tenjin, as well as the average eCPM benchmark with a breakdown per country and format, based on data from CAS.AI. The report will be periodically updated with data for each quarter. Last updated on October 21, 2026 - Q3 2026 dataset has been added. - Q3 results are compared with Q2 2026 to highlight the latest platform, network, and geographic changes. ## Q3 2026 Executive Summary iOS moved ahead of Android in mobile ad revenue share in Q3 2026, while Applovin took the leading network position on both platforms. Country-level revenue became less concentrated in the US compared to Q2. The latest Q3 data highlights five main changes: - IOS accounted for 52% of ad revenue, up from 45% in Q2. Android’s share moved from 55% to 48%. - AppLovin strengthened its iOS lead and moved into first place on Android. Its share reached 53% on iOS and 29% on Android, compared with 44% and 23% in Q2. - Mintegral declined on both platforms, losing 5% on iOS and 1% on Android. - United States is still the largest individual market, but its share continues to decrease on both platforms. - Countries outside the top ten accounted for a larger share of revenue, reaching 20% on iOS and 34% on Android. Please note that these figures describe the distribution of ad revenue from within Tenjin’s own dataset. These changes in share do not on their own represent absolute revenue that has increased or decreased. ## Ad Revenue Share by Platform in Q3 2026 iOS accounted for 52% of mobile game ad revenue in Q3 2026, compared with 48% for Android. This puts iOS ahead after Android led in both Q1 and Q2. The shift toward iOS accelerated this quarter. Its share rose by 7 percentage points from Q2, following a 2-point increase between Q1 and Q2. Android’s 10-point lead in Q2 became a 4-point lead for iOS in Q3. For publishers, this gives a reason to revisit standard platform assumptions. Compare the revenue contribution of your iOS and Android audiences with your acquisition costs and retention data to understand what this shift means for your own games. ## Ad Revenue Share by Ad Network in Q3 2026 AppLovin now leads ad revenue share on both platforms, although its position remains considerably stronger on iOS. On iOS, AppLovin accounted for 53% of ad revenue, up from 44% in Q2. Unity Ads held steady at 14%, moving ahead of Mintegral, which declined from 16% to 11%. Moloco appears as a separately listed network at 6%, followed by Google AdMob at 4%. Other networks collectively accounted for 12%. On Android, AppLovin increased its share from 23% to 29%, overtaking Google AdMob, which moved from 25% to 22%. Unity Ads reached 13%, Mintegral accounted for 11%, and Pangle held 8%. Other networks contributed the remaining 17%. The difference between platforms is still clear. AppLovin generated more than half of iOS ad revenue in the dataset, while Android revenue remained more evenly distributed across networks. Publishers can use this breakdown to compare their own network mix and identify where a closer performance review may be useful. ## Top 3 Ad Networks by Year-over-Year Ad Revenue Share Gain in Q3: 2025 vs. 2026 AppLovin recorded the largest year-over-year gain in ad revenue share on both platforms. Its iOS share increased by 11 percentage points, from 42% in Q3 2025 to 53% in Q3 2026. On Android, it gained 10 points, moving from 19% to 29%. Moloco followed on iOS with a 5-percentage-point gain, while Unity Ads gained 2 points. On Android, Google AdMob and Unity Ads each gained 3 points. Unity Ads appeared among the top three gainers on both platforms. Moloco’s position also makes it worth watching on iOS, where it accounted for 6% of revenue in the latest network breakdown. Read this ranking alongside the revenue-share chart. Together, they show which networks contribute the most revenue and which have gained the most share over the past year. These share gains should not be interpreted as growth rates in absolute ad revenue. ## iOS Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q3 2026 The US remained the largest iOS ad revenue market at 52%, down from 58% in Q2. Japan followed at 8%, while the UK accounted for 5%. Canada, Germany, and Russia each contributed 3%. Australia and France each accounted for 2%, with Saudi Arabia and South Korea at 1% each. The most notable change was the contribution from countries outside the top ten. Their combined share rose from 9% in Q2 to 20% in Q3. The composition of the top ten also changed, with Saudi Arabia and South Korea appearing in place of Mexico and Türkiye. The US still generated more than half of iOS ad revenue, but the latest distribution gives publishers a reason to consider and look more closely at a wider international audience. Country-level reporting can help identify which markets are contributing to revenue beyond the largest established sources. ## Android Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q3 2026 Android ad revenue continued to come from a broader mix of countries than iOS. The US led at 28%, down from 32% in Q2, while Russia’s share moved from 9% to 8%. Japan, Türkiye, and Brazil each accounted for 5%. Türkiye entered the displayed top ten, while France was no longer listed separately. Mexico contributed 4%, followed by the UK, South Korea, and Germany at 3% each. Canada accounted for 2%. Countries outside the top ten generated 34% of Android ad revenue, up from 32% in Q2. Collectively, these markets contributed more revenue than the US alone. For publishers, that wider distribution makes country-level analysis particularly useful. Comparing revenue, acquisition costs, and user retention by market can help determine where to test localization or adjust monetization strategies. ## What These Results Mean For Mobile Publishers These benchmarks reveal why platform, network, and country performance needs to be reviewed together, as a whole. iOS has a larger share of ad revenue, AppLovin led both platforms, and countries ranking outside of the top ten continue to contribute a larger share of revenue. Mobile publishers can use these findings to review their apps. Check whether the same changes follow the trend in your data and which networks contribute to revenue in each of your markets and how they perform over time. Use these findings to guide a review of your own games. By combining ad revenue with acquisition costs, retention, and IAP revenue gives your team a holistic framework for evaluating where to test and scale. ## Q2 2026 Executive Summary The Q2 2026 data shows four notable changes: - iOS increased its share of total ad revenue from 43% to 45%. - AppLovin gained ad revenue share on both iOS and Android. - Mintegral declined by 5 percentage points on both platforms. - The US increased its share of ad revenue on both platforms, reaching 58% on iOS and 32% on Android. Android still generates the majority of ad revenue in the dataset, but the gap between Android and iOS narrowed from 14 percentage points in Q1 to 10 percentage points in Q2. ## Ad Revenue Share by Platform in Q2 2026 Android accounted for 55% of mobile game ad revenue in Q2 2026, compared with 45% for iOS. This represents a 2-percentage-point shift toward iOS from Q1, when Android held 57% and iOS held 43%. Android remains the larger ad revenue platform, but the balance moved slightly closer in Q2. The longer-term trend is therefore not a straight move toward Android. Platform share can shift from quarter to quarter, making it important for publishers to monitor actual revenue contribution rather than relying on assumptions about which operating system monetizes better. ## Ad Revenue Share by Ad Network in Q2 2026 AppLovin strengthened its lead on iOS in Q2, increasing from 39% to 44% of ad revenue share. Mintegral moved in the opposite direction, falling from 21% to 16%. Unity Ads and Others each increased slightly, from 13% to 14%. Liftoff and Google AdMob both declined from 7% to 6%. As a result, the gap between the two largest iOS networks expanded considerably. AppLovin led Mintegral by 18 percentage points in Q1. By Q2, that lead had grown to 28 percentage points. Android remained more competitive. Google AdMob held first place, increasing slightly from 24% to 25%, while AppLovin rose from 19% to 23%. The gap between the two leading Android networks narrowed from 5 percentage points to just 2. Others remained unchanged at 19%, Unity Ads held steady at 12%, and Mintegral declined from 17% to 12%. Pangle appears as a separately identified network with 9% share in Q2, while Liftoff, which held 9% in Q1, is no longer shown separately. The comparison reinforces how differently the two ecosystems behave. iOS became more concentrated around AppLovin, while Android retained a broader distribution across several networks. ## Top 3 Ad Networks by Ad Revenue Growth YoY in Q2: 2025 vs 2026 Unity Ads remained the leading network for year-over-year growth on iOS, increasing by 4%. It was followed by Pangle at 2% and Moloco at 1%. Unity Ads was also the leading iOS growth network in Q1. However, the other two positions changed: Liftoff and Mintegral appeared in the Q1 ranking, while Pangle and Moloco entered the top three in Q2. On Android, Google AdMob recorded the strongest year-over-year growth at 6%, compared with 3% in the Q1 year-over-year comparison. AppLovin followed at 4%, while Pangle remained among the top three with 2% growth. This is a ranking of the networks recording the strongest year-over-year gains, not necessarily the networks generating the largest total share of ad revenue. Looking at both charts together helps distinguish market size from momentum. ## iOS Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q2 2026 The US increased its share of iOS ad revenue from 56% in Q1 to 58% in Q2, reinforcing its position as the dominant iOS monetization market. Japan remained second but declined slightly from 11% to 10%. The UK increased from 5% to 6%, overtaking Russia, which fell from 6% to 4%. Germany and Canada remained unchanged at 3%. Australia increased from 2% to 3%, while France held steady at 2%. Mexico and Türkiye each accounted for 1%, and the share attributed to Others declined from 10% to 9%. The overall picture became slightly more concentrated around the US. However, individual markets such as the UK and Australia still gained share, showing why country-level performance should be evaluated separately rather than through platform-wide averages alone. ## Android Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q2 2026 The US recorded the largest geographic increase on Android, rising from 28% in Q1 to 32% in Q2. Russia moved in the opposite direction, declining from 13% to 9%. Japan and Brazil remained unchanged at 5%. Mexico increased from 3% to 4%, while South Korea moved from 2% to 3%. The UK and Germany each declined from 4% to 3%. France and Canada remained at 2%. The share generated by countries outside the top ten remained unchanged at 32%. This is important because it shows that Android’s geographically distributed revenue base did not disappear. Instead, the most significant Q2 movement occurred between the two largest named markets, with the US gaining 4 percentage points and Russia losing 4. ## Ad Revenue Share by Platform in Q1 2026 [Image: Ad Revenue Share by Platform in Q1 2026] Android pulls ahead in ad revenue shares. In Q1 2026, Android accounts for 57% of ad revenue share compared to iOS at 43%. This builds on the directional shift we saw in Q4 2025, where Android held 60% of platform share against iOS at 40%. The trend is consistent and worth taking seriously. While the split is not dramatic, it is meaningful. Android’s larger global install base has always been a volume story, but seeing it translate into a clear revenue majority signals that the monetization gap between the two platforms is closing. ## Ad Revenue Share by Ad Network in Q1 2026 [Image: Ad Revenue Share by Ad Network in Q1 2026] Network leadership is very different by platform. In Q1 2026, AppLovin commands 39% of iOS ad revenue share, a dominant position that leaves every other network trailing at a distance. Mintegral follows at 21%, with Unity Ads and Others both at 13%, and Liftoff and Google AdMob each at 7%. Android is a different conversation entirely. Google AdMob leads at 24%, but the field is far more competitive. AppLovin sits at 19%, matching Others also at 19%, with Mintegral at 17%, Unity Ads at 12%, and Liftoff at 9%. No single network runs away with it. The contrast between the two platforms reinforces a theme that has been consistent throughout this data. ## Top 3 Ad Networks by Ad Revenue, Growth YOY Q1: 2025 vs 2026 [Image: Top 3 Ad Networks by Ad Revenue, Growth YOY Q1: 2025 vs 2026] Growth is selective, and a pattern is forming. On iOS, Unity Ads leads year-over-year gains at 4%, followed by Liftoff at 2% and Mintegral at 1%. On Android, Google AdMob, Pangle, and Liftoff grew at 3%, 2%, and 2% respectively. Compare this Q1 data to Q4 2025, where Pangle surged 7% on Android and Unity Ads led iOS growth at 4%. Although Pangle’s gains have slowed, it remains in the top three networks. Unity Ads and Liftoff are the two networks showing consistent growth across both platforms and both periods. This shows that the networks worth watching are not always the biggest ones, but rather the ones that keep moving. ## iOS Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q1 2026 [Image: iOS Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q1 2026] The US accounts for 56% of iOS ad revenue in Q1 2026, down from 59% in Q4 2025. Japan has grown from 9% to 11%, quietly becoming a more significant player. Russia holds at 6%, the UK at 5%, with Germany and Canada both at 3%. The concentration is still real, but the distribution is slowly broadening. For developers with a global user base, the case for optimizing beyond the US is getting stronger. ## Android Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q1 2026 [Image: Android Ad Revenue Share by Country in Q1 2026] Android’s global revenue base continues to spread. The US leads Android ad revenue in Q1 2026 at 28%, down from 31% in Q4 2025. Russia holds second at 13%, up from 12%, with Japan at 5% and Brazil at 5%. Germany, the UK, Mexico, Korea, France, and Canada all sit between 2% and 4%, and Others accounts for a substantial 32%. That 32% in “Others” tells the real story. Android’s revenue base is genuinely global and continues to fragment across emerging markets. No single region outside the US is pulling ahead, but collectively they are where the opportunity is. ##### Q4 2025 Data ##### Q3 2025 Data ##### Q2 2025 Data ##### Q1 2025 Data ##### 2024 Data