Sophie Blake
AppLovin is preparing to develop its own social networking platform, marking a strategic pivot following its unsuccessful attempt to acquire TikTok’s international operations.
The plan was outlined by the company’s chief product and engineering officer, Xiaochuan (Giovanni) Ge, in a recent podcast interview. According to comments, AppLovin intends to reverse the conventional social media model: rather than building an audience first and layering advertising later, the company aims to leverage its existing advertising infrastructure as the foundation for a new social ecosystem.
AppLovin has historically focused on ad placement and monetization technology, distributing ads across third-party mobile apps, games and, more recently, connected TV environments. The company divested its internal games portfolio last year, further concentrating on advertising technology and artificial intelligence-driven optimization.
By building and owning a social platform, AppLovin would gain direct control over user engagement, content distribution and ad inventory—reducing its dependence on external publishers. Such a move would place the company in more direct competition with established social media operators including Meta and Snap, as well as TikTok.
Ge acknowledged that expanding into social media presents operational challenges, particularly in recruiting specialized talent. A recent job listing for a Singapore-based backend engineer references building infrastructure to support media delivery, real-time social interaction and content discovery, suggesting early-stage development efforts are underway.
AppLovin’s push into owned media would also deepen its access to first-party behavioral data, strengthening its Axon AI engine, which powers ad targeting and optimization across its network. The company acquired mobile measurement firm Adjust in 2021 for nearly $1 billion, bolstering its analytics capabilities.
The strategic shift comes amid broader changes in the mobile ecosystem. Global app installs rose 10% in 2025, while sessions increased 7% year over year, according to recent industry data. At the same time, social commerce continues to expand, with long-term forecasts projecting multi-trillion-dollar growth by the end of the decade.
AppLovin’s market valuation has fluctuated significantly over the past year, and its stock has experienced notable declines in recent months. A move into social networking would represent one of its most consequential expansions beyond advertising infrastructure and into direct consumer-facing platforms.
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