Consumer spend is expected to reduce across several industries as people adjust to life during a pandemic. Mobile gaming, however, is expected to remain relatively unscathed. Sensor Tower’s latest report says that mobile gaming will only see minor setbacks and still earn $72.6 billion by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a research study states in-game ads improve user experience. Read all about it in this week’s Mobile Monday!
COVID-19’s Impact on Mobile Games Spend Will Be Minimal
Sensor Tower recently released their 2019-2023 Mobile Market Forecast, which indicates that global consumer spending in mobile apps and games during 2020 will suffer only marginally from COVID-19. Compared to initial forecasts for the year. According to their analysis, gaming spend in the App Store and Google Play will reach $72.6 billion worldwide, up 15.2% year-over-year. Mobile games will earn an estimated $97.8 billion in 2024 on both app stores, accounting for 57% of total gross revenue that year.
The report also forecasts that mobile games will make up 41% or 74.8 billion of all new app installs in 2024. This growth will be boosted by the installs in the next nine months due to the Coronavirus’ global impact. Installs in 2020 are projected to total 56.2 billion worldwide at year-over-year growth of almost 33%. In comparison, global downloads of mobile games grew only 10% between 2018 and 2019.
In-game Ads Improve User Experience
According to research by Dentsu Data Labs and Adverty, mobile users prefer ads that are seamless such as in-game. Their survey revealed that ads that appear within more natural contexts lead to better brand awareness and recall. These types of ads in brand-safe environments offer a 31% more positive user experience. When participants were presented with a series of ads in different online environments, half of them said they preferred to see in-game ads in comparison to 30% that said they preferred a banner ad on a news website.
When ads merged more seamlessly within an app environment, 50% of participants said they preferred them compared to 30% preferring banner ads. Furthermore, of those who participated in the study, 84% said they remember seeing ads within the game, while 78% of those seeing the ad were able to recall the brand they had seen. The research also gives confirms with the habitual nature of mobile gaming with 68% of respondents saying they play daily or more often.
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