Advertisers have long directed most of their mobile ad budgets to Google and Meta, but that dominance is beginning to face recent pressures as mobile users spend more time in independent apps. Across Asia-Pacific (APAC), this shift is prompting many advertisers to rethink their dependence on the 2 tech giants. New research from Moloco, developed with Sensor Tower and Singular, shows that 88% of mobile ad budgets still go to Google and Meta—though billions of users are spending their time elsewhere.
The study, titled Performance Through Independence, highlights why this overreliance may now not make sense. It found that shifting ad spend into the independent app ecosystem can deliver as much as 214% higher returns. This fast-growing space includes casual gaming, productivity, finance, delivery, and other apps that together now reach two billion day by day lively users, a scale much like TikTok and Instagram combined.
Paul D’Arcy, Chief Marketing Officer at Moloco, spoke with Marketing Tech News about why advertisers are exploring alternatives, what’s driving this shift, and how APAC’s unique mobile environment is creating recent opportunities.
Why advertisers are looking beyond Google and Meta
In APAC, advertisers remain heavily tied to Google and Meta for performance promoting, with China being the fundamental exception. D’Arcy explained that while these platforms dominate ad budgets, they only capture about 30% of users’ attention on mobile devices. That imbalance alone is a key reason why marketers are exploring recent options.
Cost is one other major factor. Advertising on Google and Meta is becoming increasingly expensive, with prices rising at double-digit rates every year. As advertisers scale campaigns on just a couple of platforms, the associated fee of every additional conversion becomes much higher. Many brands are reaching some extent where the returns now not justify the spend.
“What every advertiser wants is another platform that delivers three things: global scale, similar AI-advertising capabilities that maximise outcomes and deliver predictable results, and the flexibility to deliver cost-effective incremental growth,” D’Arcy said.
The independent app ecosystem matches this need. Two-thirds of user attention now lies outside the reach of Google and Meta. Independent platforms offer strong ad formats and, when combined with modern AI tools, can deliver the identical form of optimisation and performance advertisers expect from Google and other large platforms. According to Moloco’s research, advertisers that diversify into this ecosystem can see incremental return on ad spend rise by as much as 214%.
A region built for independent app growth
APAC’s mobile market is especially well-suited for this shift. Unlike North America and Europe, where mobile app usage has levelled off, APAC continues to experience rapid growth, especially in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. People across the region are downloading more apps and spending more time in them every year.
“Moloco was built for this ecosystem,” D’Arcy said. The company’s AI models evaluate thousands and thousands of ad opportunities per second across greater than three million independent apps, reaching over two billion day by day lively users. “For advertisers, meaning we will help them reach the correct audiences, optimise performance in real time, and adjust as consumer behaviour shifts across each emerging and mature markets.”
This form of scale makes the fragmented app environment more accessible. Instead of counting on a couple of centralised platforms, advertisers can tap right into a broad and diverse network of apps where priceless users are increasingly lively.
Understanding changing user behaviour
One common mistake advertisers make in APAC is underestimating how diverse user engagement really is. Social media stays popular, but habits are shifting quickly. Users are spending more time on gaming, productivity, finance, and even generative AI apps. Moloco’s research shows that individuals in the region engage with a median of 26 different apps every month.
“For younger consumers, that may mean gravitating toward apps with gamified experiences. For older users, it’d mean spending more time in finance or lifestyle apps,” D’Arcy explained.
This behaviour creates multiple day by day touchpoints where brands can reach users, but it surely also demands more thoughtful strategies. Instead of assuming that social platforms are the first approach to reach audiences, advertisers must design campaigns that fit the context and category of the apps people actually use. AI tools are playing a growing role here, helping marketers discover and goal these high-value moments at scale.
How advertisers can overcome friction when moving beyond Google and Meta
Shifting away from Google and Meta isn’t so simple as moving money. Many marketers face practical challenges after they diversify their ad spend. Some are less conversant in alternative platforms and find out how to measure success there. Attribution could be more complex, and there are concerns about whether campaigns will scale effectively or produce consistent results.
Audiences are also scattered across 1000’s of apps, making it harder to search out and engage the correct users. According to D’Arcy, probably the most successful brands treat the independent app ecosystem as a core growth channel, not only an experiment. They use premium in-app inventory combined with AI-driven optimisation and concentrate on measuring incrementality—the actual impact of their spending fairly than simply top-line metrics.
“In practice, meaning using platforms that bring together large, vetted app inventories with automation and outcome-focused AI,” D’Arcy said. “This combination makes it easier to administer creative formats, measure what really matters, and ultimately scale campaigns that drive each return on investment and incremental growth.”
Rethinking metrics in a privacy-first world
The shift toward privacy-first promoting is changing how marketers measure success. While return on ad spend (ROAS) stays a useful benchmark, D’Arcy noted that it doesn’t all the time tell the complete story.
“ROAS is a mathematical average that doesn’t all the time tell the complete story. Marketers must also be calculating their marginal ROAS and using that to optimise channels,” he explained. Spending heavily on one platform often drives up costs for the last conversions while cheaper opportunities remain untapped elsewhere.
Another key metric is incrementality. Some paid conversions, especially on search channels, simply replace organic ones. Running experiments to measure incremental impact helps advertisers understand where their money is definitely creating recent value. D’Arcy also warned about self-attributing networks that inflate conversion numbers, stressing the importance of testing and normalising measurement across providers.
AI levels the playing field beyond walled gardens
AI and machine learning have powered digital promoting for years, but until recently, those capabilities were mostly concentrated inside Google and Meta. Now, firms like Moloco are applying AI-driven optimisation at a large scale to independent apps, which account for 70% of mobile digital activity.
This development gives advertisers a brand new approach to run outcome-optimised campaigns across thousands and thousands of apps. By expanding beyond the walled gardens, they’ll reach more users, lower customer acquisition costs, and boost incremental conversions—all without sacrificing performance.
What will define advertisers’ success beyond Google in APAC?
As smartphone adoption in APAC pushes past 90% by 2030, mobile apps will proceed to shape how people shop, play, and work. According to D’Arcy, probably the most successful advertisers can be those that adapt to 2 key trends.
First, they’ll diversify their marketing mix to match changing user habits. In markets like Vietnam and India, users are moving toward entertainment, gaming, and generative AI apps. In Japan and South Korea, social media use is falling while gaming and productivity apps grow. Reaching these users means embracing a broader app ecosystem.
Second, they’ll mix first-party data with real-time AI optimisation to operate effectively in a privacy-first environment. Responsible data use and smarter targeting will allow advertisers to show signals into actionable insights and deliver more relevant experiences.
“The advertisers who thrive can be those who tap into this broader mixture of apps to drive meaningful reach and engagement,” D’Arcy said.
Conclusion
The APAC mobile promoting market is changing fast. User attention is fragmenting, costs are climbing on traditional platforms, and privacy shifts are reshaping how success is measured. For advertisers, these changes bring challenges—but additionally real opportunities. By looking beyond Google and Meta, advertisers can tap into the independent app ecosystem to search out recent growth, improve performance, and future-proof their strategies in a rapidly shifting digital environment.
(Photo by Creatopy)
See also: Meta AI chat contents for use to raised goal ads
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