AppLovin gains market share among e-commerce advertisers

Investing.com -- AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) increased its share of advertising spend among e-commerce companies in 2026, according to a survey of 30 advertisers conducted by Jefferies in the second quarter.

The company's share of advertising budgets rose 169 basis points between the fourth quarter of 2025 and full year 2026, reaching 11% of total spend. This marked the largest gain among advertising networks surveyed. AppLovin maintained its position in the top three networks for both share and return on ad spend.

TikTok also saw growth, with its share rising 147 basis points to 10% of advertiser budgets. The survey found that Meta and Google lost share, though this was attributed to advertisers diversifying their spending rather than reducing budgets on those platforms.

The second quarter survey included more advertisers who had started using AppLovin in the fourth quarter of 2025, with 23% of respondents falling into this category compared to 7% in the first quarter survey. These new advertisers increased their spending on the platform throughout the year.

Half of the surveyed advertisers tested AppLovin's generative AI end cards and AI video features, while 33% tested full campaign setup. Six advertisers reported gains in return on ad spend from the AI video creative tool. Four advertisers saw performance improvements from AI end cards.

The surveyed advertisers expect to grow their total direct-to-consumer advertising spend by 15% year-over-year in 2026, up from 8% expectations in the first quarter survey. They reported 12% spend growth in the second quarter and expect similar growth in the third quarter.

Seventy-three percent of survey participants reported an increase in new customer revenue from prospecting campaigns, up from 60% in the first quarter survey. For discovery campaigns, 60% saw an increase, compared to 50% in the previous quarter.

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