by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, October 25, 2017

Less than a year from its launch, Apple Search Ads now ranks No. 3 and No. 4 in the universal non-gaming and gaming power rankings, respectively, in AppsFlyer’s Performance Index report released this week.

Apple App Store Search Ads recently expanded into Canada, Mexico and Switzerland.

Apple Search Ads hit the No. 1 spot in the iOS ROI Index with a 30% higher average revenue per user and a 40% lower price than the other networks in this index.

Facebook led the non-gaming category, followed by Google AdWords at No. 2. Twitter came in at No. 4; AdColony, No. 5; Vungle, No. 6; AppLovin, No.7; MUNDOmedia, No. 8; YouAppi, No. 9; and Cheetah Mobile rounded out the top 10.

In the fifth edition of its Performance Index report, AppsFlyer ranked the top media sources in mobile advertising. The report examines more than 6 billion installations and 80 billion sessions across four regions.

For the first time, the report also takes into account multiple, advanced fraud signals, as it is estimated that advertisers will lose between $2.2 billion and $2.6 billion this year to app install fraud.

While fraud was heavily considered in the methodology, the ranking is based on the total number of fraud-free installs that each app generated. AppsFlyer then factored an additional fraud penalty based on the network’s install fraud rate for the region in question.

While Facebook and Google have always made it to the top slots, the two dominate the mobile ad space. AppFlyer’s new return on investments (ROI) index shows Facebook and Google reaching the No. 1 and the No. 2 spots on Android, and the No. 2 and No. 3 positions on iOS, respectively.

While the two top the rankings across the board, their dominance in the non-gaming category shows their strength. Facebook and Google’s share of installs in non-gaming was 70% higher than their share in gaming. When looking at operating systems, their share on Android came in nearly 50% higher than iOS. Regionally, the data shows that Latin America has the highest share of installs coming from Google and Facebook, followed by Asia, Western Europe, and lastly, North America.

Those are just two of several key insights you will find in the index, in addition to the full power, volume, and ROI rankings.

Interestingly, gaming marketers appear to prefer iOS over Android, as iOS had a 20% higher quality score, but iOS and Android were equal among non-gaming apps.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

(45)