Tenjin’s 2026 mobile game ad monetization benchmarks: iOS share up, AppLovin stronger, US concentrating
Tenjin (with CAS) shares 2026 ad monetization benchmarks for mobile games, including platform mix, network share shifts, and country concentration. Useful as a reality check when your IAA revenue ‘feels weird’.
Original post (source): Tenjin, “Ad Monetization in Mobile Games – Benchmark Report 2026” (updated Aug 13, 2026)
What Tenjin is publishing
Tenjin partnered with Clever Ads Solutions (CAS) to publish a mobile game ad monetization benchmark report (updated quarterly).
The useful bit is not one magic number, it’s the directional shifts they highlight (Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026).
Highlights worth noting
From the executive summary (Q2 2026):
- iOS share of ad revenue ticked up (from 43% to 45%), narrowing the Android lead.
- AppLovin gained share on both iOS and Android.
- Mintegral declined (reported as a 5pp drop on both platforms).
- The US got even more dominant in their dataset, reaching 58% of iOS ad revenue share and 32% on Android.
They also show that iOS looks more concentrated (one network pulling away) while Android remains more distributed across several networks.
Why this matters (even if you don’t run games)
If you monetise with ads (IAA), this is a good reminder that:
- “my eCPMs dropped” can be a mix shift problem (geo, network, format), not just creative fatigue.
- network concentration is a risk. When one network dominates, performance volatility can rise.
Tiny win
Take one week of IAA revenue and break it into a simple 3-way view:
- platform (iOS vs Android)
- geo tier (US vs top 5 vs rest)
- network share (top 3 vs long tail)
If you can’t explain variance with those three cuts, don’t “optimize” yet. Fix the reporting first.
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