Last Week’s Top Mobile Marketing Reads: 1 – 7 February 2021

Welcome back to “Last Week’s Top Mobile Marketing Reads series that recap the most read industry news on gaming, business of apps, and mobile advertising. 

Last week, Apple’s upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature was again one of the hottest topics in the industry. Snap Inc. warned that Apple’s privacy feature could pose a risk to Snap’s ad business. Facebook, on the other hand, started showing iOS users a prompt to encourage them to allow ad tracking explaining how it will affect their ad experiences. 

When it comes to the important product launches of the last week, Instagram is reportedly getting prepared for another TikTok like feature called “Vertical Stories”. The feature is now under development but it may never actually go public. On the other hand, Spotify patented a speech recognition technology to analyze its users’ voice and determine their emotional state to offer them better music recommendations.   

Google looking for alternative to Apple’s ‘App Tracking Transparency’ feature

Last week we covered that Google is looking for a way to limit data collection and cross-app tracking in Android devices, according to Bloomberg. The tech giant is trying to find an alternative to Apple’s app tracking transparency feature in a less strictly way.

AppLovin to acquire mobile measurement company Adjust

The most notable investment news last week was undoubtedly Applovin’s acquisition of Adjust. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but it is told to Bloomberg that the deal has valued mobile measurement company Adjust at close to $1 billion. 

“Adjust’s product-first approach to the attribution and analytics space is comparable to how we built AppLovin, and exceptional combinations are born from similar objectives and culture. Together, we believe we will propel marketing tools innovation forward for mobile app developers globally.” said Adam Foroughi, AppLovin Co-Founder and CEO.

Reddit app downloads hit 6 million in January thanks to ‘meme stocks’

Reddit’s monthly app installs exceeded 6 million in January, making it the best month ever for the app in terms of downloads, due to the ‘’meme stocks’’ trend in the financial world. 

The app generated 6.6 million installs worldwide in January 2021, up  43% month-over-month and 128% year-over-year. It previously saw 4.6 million monthly downloads in December 2020 and 3 million in January 2020. 

Consumers spent over $3 billion on dating apps in 2020

Dating app usage and customer spending has grown significantly over 2020. Consumers spent more than $ 3 billion on dating apps in the last year, with an 15% increase annually worldwide. A total of 560 million dating apps downloads were generated, according to the App Annie report.

Elon Musk’s chat with Robinhood CEO sparks a scramble for invitations to Clubhouse

The chat between Elon Musk and Vlad Tenev led to a boom in the number of Clubhouse downloads and made the app’s invitations extremely valuable. 

Clubhouse invitations are on sale at Idle Fish, Alibaba’s second-hand marketplace, even though Clubhouse is not available in Chinese App Store, according to information reported by Reuters. It is also stated that investors, tech workers and the media flocked to the Clubhouse in Japan.