Report: Mobile app user spending and digital advertising spending in the United States increased by 12% and 15% respectively year-on-year in the second quarter.

Sensor Tower has partnered with data.ai to release the latest Digital Market Index report. In the second quarter of 2024, global app and game user spending on mobile reached a new high of $36.2 billion, an increase of 11.7% compared to the second quarter of 2023. During the same period, digital advertising spending in the United States reached $27.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15%. User spending on mobile apps and games accelerated in the second quarter of 2024. A closer analysis of user spending on mobile in this quarter revealed that the majority of it ($19.7 billion) still went towards mobile games. Recent performance indicates that the mobile game market, which has been in a slump for several years, is rebounding. This quarter marks the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth in this sector. On the other hand, the balance between app and game user spending continues to trend towards equilibrium, with app spending accounting for 46% of total spending in this quarter, up from 42% in the same period last year. At this rate, the share of non-game apps in spending could surpass games as early as next year. In the face of such rapid growth in apps, it is necessary to explore the driving factors behind it. Specifically, user spending in all major categories saw year-on-year growth againproductivity, photo and video, entertainment, and utility tools all grew by at least 20%. With the combined influence of three key factors (the continued prevalence of subscription models, increased mobile device usage, and the convenience of mobile payments), these apps have gained unprecedented monetization capabilities. Many "old faces" are featured in the top apps of the second quarter of 2024. TikTok, in particular, topped both the global user spending and download rankings. Given that no other app made it to the top ten in both rankings, its leading position is evident. This popular global social media app produced by ByteDance also once again set a single-quarter global user spending record (easily surpassing $1.3 billion), making it the second app in history to accumulate over $14 billion in user spending (the first being the mobile game "Honor of Kings"). Apart from TikTok and CapCut by ByteDance, five of the highest downloaded apps this quarter were from Meta (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp Messenger, Messenger, and WhatsApp Business). In other words, only three apps in the top ten were not produced by these two companies. As the mobile market matures, new apps find it increasingly difficult to challenge and compete with established apps. However, difficulties do not mean impossibilities, as Temu, an e-commerce app launched less than two years ago, made a strong entry into the top five this quarter. TikTok and Instagram lead the growth in social ad spending in the United States. In the first quarter of 2024, total digital advertising spending on mobile, desktop, and OTT in the United States exceeded $27 billion, with an exposure of 33 trillion times, showing significant year-on-year (15%) and quarter-on-quarter (4%) growth compared to the previous year and quarter. The only quarter that exceeded this quarter was the fourth quarter of 2023, which was boosted by the shopping season. In terms of social platforms, TikTok and Instagram stood out, achieving year-on-year growth of 28% and 23%, respectively. All other markets included also saw at least 10% year-on-year growth. Digital advertising spending in Australia grew by over 21%. Note that the advertising channels covered in the data may vary by country.