Mobile advertising is accelerating fast. According to Singular’s Q2 2025 Quarterly Trends Report, global ad spend jumped 40.3% YoY, led by entertainment, finance, and on-demand verticals.
Yet behind this growth lies a more complex reality: rising user acquisition (UA) costs, stricter privacy policies, and changing user behaviors are fundamentally reshaping how marketers achieve sustainable growth.
At the helm of this transformation are Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework and the evolving SKAdNetwork (SKAN). Together, they’ve limited access to granular user data, forcing a shift from short-term performance metrics to long-term, full-funnel strategies, ones that balance acquisition and retention.
To stay ahead, marketers need to zoom out. Full-funnel growth, a hybrid strategy of user acquisition and retargeting, has emerged as the gold standard for scaling in a privacy-first ecosystem.
Ad spend and market shifts highlight acquisition challenges
The latest data from Singular paints a mixed picture. Yes, ad spend is booming, but the gains are uneven. While Entertainment ad spend more than doubled year-over-year, mobile gaming spend is down, and Shopping apps are battling global tariff-related headwinds.
At the same time, cost-per-install (CPI) is rising. Android Shopping and Fintech apps are seeing steep increases in acquisition costs. At the same time, Education has become the fastest-growing vertical in UA spend, with CPIs climbing multiple times in just a year.
Then there’s the widening iOS vs. Android monetization gap. Across most verticals, Android dominates installs, but iOS dominates revenue:
- In gaming, Android earns 89.5% of installs but just 10.4% of revenue
- In Health & Fitness, iOS captures 92.6% of revenue despite fewer installs
- Only Utilities break the trend, with Android securing the bulk of both installs and revenue
Takeaway: Marketers can no longer chase volume alone. Value per user matters more than ever.
Privacy constraints on iOS demand more innovative marketing
The iOS ecosystem is evolving the fastest. With ATT opt-in rates hovering around 9% at first app open, many marketers are operating in the dark, especially in sensitive verticals like Shopping, Travel, and Health & Fitness, where opt-in rates fall as low as 1.4–4.9%.
But not all is lost.
SKAN is maturing, with SKAN 4.0 offering more stability for campaign measurement, although with limited granularity and delayed signals.
The era of instant attribution is over. What wins now? Patience, intelligent lifecycle strategy, privacy-conscious engagement, and smarter creativity; all powered by AI.
Why retargeting and retention are more important than ever
As install-based attribution becomes less reliable, retention and LTV become the metrics that matter.
Singular’s Q2 report features Aarki’s App Stickiness Index, a new way to understand engagement beyond basic retention. Built on retargeting data, the index maps how often users return to different app categories, revealing behavioral patterns rooted in user intent.
Stickiness isn’t about reactivating churned users, it’s about fulfilling functional and emotional needs at the right cadence. Whether your app thrives on daily check-ins or periodic but purposeful visits, understanding your stickiness profile can help you craft smarter, full-funnel strategies that deepen user connections.
In a privacy-constrained environment, existing users become your most valuable audience.
Integrating UA and RT for full-funnel growth
Earlier, mobile marketers looked at user acquisition and retargeting as standalone strategies with retargeting being an afterthought. But, in a post-ATT world where deterministic attribution is limited, contextual and probabilistic signals become essential. The solution is to look at user acquisition and retargeting as a unified strategy.
This starts with acquiring high-quality users through partners who take a full-funnel approach; those who go beyond just top-of-funnel volume and optimize for long-term value. Once you’ve captured intent-rich users, layer in retargeting to nurture those relationships and drive repeat conversions, all while respecting privacy boundaries.
This full-funnel approach means:
- Higher ROAS from every install
- Better adaptability to privacy regulations
- Smarter allocation of ad budgets toward engagement, not just top-of-the-funnel metrics
Privacy is here to stay, adapt and grow
Marketers who cling to old funnel models will find themselves outpaced by those who embrace the whole picture. Retention, engagement, and privacy-conscious performance strategies are now essential to winning in mobile advertising.
Singular’s Q2 2025 Trends Report delivers the insights you need to adjust your playbook.
📥 Download the full report here and discover how top marketers are navigating privacy, powering full-funnel growth with more innovative strategies.
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