Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Q3 2023 Delisted Mobile Apps Report, analyzing Q3 2023 DEFASED apps (Delisted From the App Store) – apps that are no longer available for download from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, including apps that have programmatic advertising.
Apps can be delisted from the app stores yet may remain on a user’s mobile device, leaving users unaware of potential privacy and security risks. While some apps are delisted for benign reasons, others may be removed as a result of nefarious behaviors or risks to platforms’ corporate liability, including non-compliance with app store policies – such as not having a privacy policy. Advertisers can continue to serve ads on these apps even after they have been delisted, potentially exposing themselves to compliance risks as a result. Pixalate’s report analyzes app profile information and various insights observed in the programmatic advertising bid stream, including:
- Developer country of registry
- Potential factors for delisting, such as level of app abandonment
- Delisted apps with advertising (an app-ads.txt file)
Key Findings:
- Since the start of 2021, 4.3 million apps have been delisted from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined – close to the current number of apps available to download (5.4 million)
- 479K apps were removed in Q3 2023 – up 37% YoY from Q3 2022
- Google saw an increase in delisting (+72% YoY) while Apple’s delisting decreased (-17% YoY)
- 95% (458K) of apps delisted from the Google Play Store had under 100K downloads; 99% (115K) of apps removed from Apple had less than 1k user ratings in Q3
- 39% (186K) of delisted apps were abandoned (not updated for 2+ years)
- 106K delisted apps had advertising (an app-ads.txt file)
- This is up +95% YoY
- $9.3 million in estimated open programmatic ad spend on apps delisted in Q3 2023, according to Pixalate’s data
Download the full report
Download a free copy of the Q3 2023 Delisted Mobile Apps Report, which includes a list of the top 200 delisted apps by store with programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an app-ads.txt file).
The full report also contains the list of the top 10 developers with advertising with apps delisted in the quarter, as well as the list of the top 10 “file cleaner” apps with advertising that were delisted, according to Pixalate’s data.
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