Parents drove a 32x gaming app index and 61.2% of toy ad spend in 2025, data shows

Apps and advertisers targeting parents leaned heavily into games, toys, and AI-driven utilities in 2025, according to Sensor Tower’s latest analysis. The data highlights how parental app usage and advertising budgets converged around child-focused entertainment and future purchasing power.

Gaming emerged as the dominant app vertical among parents in 2025. Fluvsies – A Fluff to Luv ranked as the top app for the parent audience, with usage over-indexing nearly 32 times compared to the general smartphone population. Sago Mini World: Kids Games followed with a 2.1% share of the parent audience.

Across categories, gaming accounted for six of the top 10 app categories used by parents, spanning role-playing, simulation, casual, adventure, and educational games. Only Lifestyle, Graphics & Design, Shopping, and Education categories interrupted gaming’s dominance.

Outside of gaming, AI-powered apps showed notable momentum. Large language model–based apps ranked among the fastest-growing for parents in 2025. Google Gemini grew 17.6%, ChatGPT expanded by 12.2%, and Perplexity increased 0.8% year over year.

The growth suggests parents are increasingly turning to AI tools for immediate information on health, education, product research, and child development, filling gaps traditionally handled through manual research or peer advice.

On the advertising side, parents remained one of the most competitive demographics. Within the Family and Parenting Shopping category, toys dominated spending. Seven of the top 10 advertisers were toy brands, with The Lego Group alone accounting for 28% of total ad spend in 2025.

Major retailers also maintained a strong presence. Target, Walmart, and Amazon collectively represented 27% of total category ad spend, underscoring the role of mass retail in parent-focused commerce.

At a subcategory level, Toys and Games accounted for 61.2% of total ad spend. In contrast, Maternity & Nursing and Baby Products combined for 12.1%, highlighting a heavier focus on play and entertainment than early-stage parenting needs.

Publisher-level data shows a strong concentration on Meta-owned platforms. Facebook and Instagram together captured 71.4% of ad spend in the category, while YouTube ranked third with an 8.5% spend share.

From an audience exposure perspective, parents viewed 34.2% of ad impressions on Facebook alone. Combined with Instagram, Meta platforms accounted for 51.8% of total impressions in 2025. YouTube followed with 21.2%, while Pinterest and TikTok each generated just over 9% of impressions.

The discrepancy between YouTube’s higher impression share and lower spend share suggests potential inefficiencies in media allocation, with opportunities for advertisers to rebalance budgets to improve return on ad spend.