Chinese tech giants throw money at mobile ads to boost app downloads

In an age of ever-shortening attention spans, mobile developers large and small struggle to get their apps in front of eyeballs. For cash-strapped startups, word-of-mouth and viral marketing might be all that’s affordable. But for some companies, you can’t beat good old-fashioned ads – especially if you’re a wealthy Chinese tech firm.

According to data obtained from PapayaMobile, which monitors ads, traffic and app installs on its AppFlood ad network and other partner ad networks, mobile ad spend from Chinese companies increased 506 percent during the three month period ending in September 2014.

The firm won’t provide concrete dollar figures, but to provide a bit of perspective: last quarter, PapayaMobile claimed that average mobile ad spend was growing at a rate of 123 percent quarter-on-quarter. But it now claims that it’s growing at an average rate of 222 percent quarter-on-quarter.

What caused the jump? There’s no clear cut reason. But according to PapayaMobile’s report, it’s likely that the declining cost of user acquisition has affirmed that mobile ads are an effective way to get downloads, therefore causing Chinese firms to increase their mobile ad budget. As mobile ad budgets increase, downloads increase, and the cycle continues.

Who are these Chinese tech giants specifically, and what apps are they pushing? Good question. PapayaMobile lists Kingsoft and Baidu as some of its partners on its website for AppFlood. While the two are best known in China for their search and office suite products, respectively, both have been aggressively been marketing global-facing apps for some time. Baidu has invested heavily in a performance booster and battery saver, while Kingsoft maintains a controlling stake in Cheetah Mobile, which makes a series of optimization apps for Android. Whereas Tencent will pour money into TV ads promoting WeChat all over the world, its Chinese brethren have placed their bets on faceless utility apps in hopes of cracking international markets.

Check out PapayaMobile’s latest report in full below.