SensorTowerHere’s What Happened Last Quarter: Q1 2026 Mobile, Web, and Ad Trends
The Q1 2026 Digital Index report highlights a mixed mobile market: US IAP revenue has declined for two straight quarters, while Western Europe thrives.
Google Play's IAP growth doubles iOS.
Gen AI revenue growth slows for ChatGPT (+4%) as rivals like Claude (+235%) surge.
Digital ad spend rose 15% to $48B, with Gen AI spend tripling.
For the first time, mobile web visits surpass desktop, but desktop dominates engagement with 70% of time spent.
You Might Also Like
SensorTowerSensor Tower APAC Awards 2025
In 2025, APAC publishers drove a historic digital shift: non-game app revenue surpassed gaming, with Short Drama and AI growing 278% and 148%. Awards highlight top apps like Asken, Blinkit, and DeepSeek, showcasing mobile as daily life infrastructure.
SensorTowerState of Web 2026: How AI Is Reshaping the Internet
AI assistants like ChatGPT surged 86% YoY, becoming the fastest-growing web category. Mobile now accounts for over half of visits, while desktop dominates time spent. Search and social remain major gateways, but AI is emerging as a new discovery layer.
AppsFlyerHow Gaming, Finance, and E-Commerce Marketers Use Claude and AppsFlyer MCP
AppsFlyer MCP connects Claude to live attribution data, eliminating CSV exports. Gaming, finance, and e-commerce teams use it to automate reporting, catch budget anomalies, and answer performance questions in real time, transforming workflows in under 60 seconds.
AppsFlyerMobile Measurement Set the Standard. Web Is Finally Catching Up.
Mobile performance marketing built a signal infrastructure with independent attribution and postbacks, making it the most accountable channel. Web lagged, relying on fragmented platform data. AppsFlyer now brings mobile-grade measurement to web for unified, closed-loop optimization across platforms.
AdjustFIFA World Cup 2026 mobile app trends for marketers | Adjust
World Cup 2022 data shows app installs surged 131-204% in the first week, especially on November 22. Engagement peaked around national team matches, with significant growth in sports news and streaming apps. Non-participating markets like China saw massive interest. Marketers should focus on real-time adaptation for 2026.
AppsFlyerInstagram deep links: how to create, use, and measure them
Instagram deep links route users to apps, but Instagram's walled garden often breaks them. AppsFlyer's OneLink provides deferred deep linking, attribution, and branded landing pages to fix this, making Instagram a measurable growth channel.
AppsFlyerFix the Foundation: Marketing’s Signal Problem in the AI Era
AI amplifies marketing fragmentation, creating a 'tax' from bad signals. Fixing the foundation with governed data and mobile-grade measurement turns AI into an advantage. Without it, AI compounds errors, wasting budgets.
SensorTowerChatGPT Uninstalls Surge Amidst Deal With US Department of War
ChatGPT uninstalls surged 295% DoD after partnering with the Department of War. Claude gained users by refusing, outpacing ChatGPT in US downloads on March 2.
More from SensorTower
IPL Is Fueling India’s Mobile App Market: JioHotstar Dominates Entertainment While super.money Downloads Nearly Double
IPL boosted JioHotstar to #2 in downloads, with 32M+ installs and 41% DAU growth. Swiggy Instamart led grocery ads durin...
State of Web 2026: How AI Is Reshaping the Internet
AI assistants like ChatGPT surged 86% YoY, becoming the fastest-growing web category. Mobile now accounts for over half ...
Introducing Enhanced Web Insights: 3 New Reports & How to Use Them
Sensor Tower expands Web Insights with 4M websites and 12M paths. New reports: Traffic Flow, LLM Market Share, and Gen A...
Ad Monetization 101: App Analysis & Top Ad Publishers
Sensor Tower's new Ad Monetization reports reveal how apps earn beyond in-app purchases, with 72% of top grossing games ...
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games By Revenue and Downloads in April 2026
Honor of Kings led April 2026 revenues with Season 43, cross-promotion with its spinoff, and Ne Zha 2 event. Last War: S...
What Royal Match's Calendar Teaches About Live Ops in 2026
Benchmarking top casual games shows standard tournaments are table stakes (avg 2.5 formats). Royal Match excels by layer...