February proved to be a month of acquisitions in the mobile marketing world. Earlier this month, California-based mobile marketing platform and games publisher AppLovin took on Berlin-based mobile app measurement startup Adjust. In addition, Austria-based app marketing startup App Radar announced its acquisition of Barcelona-based competitor, TheTool.
AppLovin Acquires Adjust
Although Adjust will benefit from AppLovin’s wide industry expertise, it “will retain its unique brand and culture and continue to operate as an independent company” according to a statement published by AppLovin. 
Adjust was founded in 2012 as an app marketing analytics platform. They offer attribution and measurement, fraud prevention, cybersecurity and automation solutions. They work with over 50,000 apps, including clients such as SoundCloud and TikTok. They have over 500 employees in 16 offices globally. AppLovin was founded in the same year as a game publisher and marketplace for mobile apps. They offer monetisation, analytics, marketing and publishing solutions for apps. Since then, the company has expanded into other areas through various acquisitions, totalling over six since 2014. With over 420 million daily active users, AppLovin is a mobile app powerhouse that also helps other businesses grow. AppLovin’s latest acquisition of Adjust aims to grow the industry in which both companies operate. Through Adjust coming together with AppLovin, they now have the capacity to build a suite that provides app marketers with the best solutions for app growth. Both companies take a product-first approach to their industry offering so working together will make them an innovative force to reckon with. The companies will be launching the “Adjust Growth Scholarship” to offer a whole spectrum of tools, funding and consultation services to new businesses in the mobile sphere. This will provide more opportunities for emerging app developers and benefit the mobile app ecosystem as a whole. According to AppLovin’s statement, “Scholarship recipients will have access to Adjust’s attribution platform, as well as access to capital to invest in their business”.
App Radar Acquires TheTool
The deal has been positioned as a way for both companies to “join forces” to offer the most extensive ASO tool out there. Essentially, App Radar’s acquisition of TheTool expands its operations in the European market. 
TheTool was founded in 2017 by PICKASO, Spain’s first app marketing agency. They created a platform to enable their customers to have access to the right data to analyze their app marketing and beat their competitors in the ever-competitive app stores. With its strong ASO technology, the platform grew and served hundreds of companies. App Radar, founded in 2015, offers tools and services for organic and paid user acquisition. Their data-driven solution is used by companies spanning over 160 countries. It has doubled its turnover for two years running at a time when the app market has reached new heights globally.
Twitch is Diversifying its Channels
Amazon launched live streaming site Twitch in 2011, and it has been synonymous with the gaming world ever since. Twitch has nearly doubled its number of concurrent viewers throughout the pandemic, and it’s setting its sights even higher for 2021. 
The platform wants to appeal to more people outside of the gaming community by diversifying its offerings with content ranging from live concerts to cooking and fitness classes. One example is last year’s partnership with the NFL to stream their Thursday night football games. Although Twitch’s non-gaming channels won’t match the value of their gaming content, they will help the platform’s future growth and bring potential for more diverse brand partnerships. Over half of Twitch’s users are between the ages of 18-34, so whatever their future offerings will be, you can be certain they’ll mostly appeal to this demographic. Part of appealing to this demographic means prioritizing brand authenticity over anything else. Typically, younger people are more wary of trusting brands.
Apple buckles down on ‘irrationally’ priced apps to avoid App Store scams
It recently became apparent that a number of apps in the App Store were making millions of dollars a year by deceiving users into paying irrationally high subscription fees. These apps faked their ratings and reviews, two of the main ranking factors to enable them to be displayed in the search results. 
To prevent this from continuing, the App Review team will reject apps that appear to have subscription fees or in-app purchases at an unreasonable price. Although this rule is not new, Apple has clamped down on the issue far more in the past month. This could be due to the recent discovery of numerous high-profit scams. It’s always important for Apple to maintain the safety of the App Store for its users, and this is just one method of going about it.
Clubhouse: Most Installed App of The Month
While Telegram took the prize for January, this month’s winner was Clubhouse. That’s right, the streaming app that was founded just one year ago in March 2020 reached over 8 million installs in February. The app, which allows users to join meeting “rooms”, is only available on iOS currently. It’s a social networking app based purely on audio, so users are essentially tuning into live podcasts. 
Perhaps the craziest thing about Clubhouse? Unlike most apps in the App Store, Clubhouse is invite only. That means you can forget downloading it and creating an account straight away. Before that step, a current member has to send you an invitation. It’s exclusive. Elite. A virtual members-only club. Also dissimilar to its competitor apps, the audio chats, or conference calls, disappear after the meeting room is closed. Just one more feature adding to the exclusivity element the app perpetuates. It’s believed that what helped Clubhouse explode is Elon Musk’s chat with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Not only did it reach the capacity for members in a single room, it was live streamed on YouTube too. Clubhouse is now valued at $1billion, making it a Unicorn startup given its huge success at such a young age.
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