Is There an Alternative to Meta Ads for App Installs? How to Test a New Ad Partner
Yes, there are alternatives to Meta ads for app installs. How growth teams pick a new ad partner, run a 30-day test and measure incrementality.
Yes. Most app growth teams already run several partners. A programmatic demand-side platform (DSP) is the most common way to reach the users the biggest platforms miss. Test a new one once your MMP is tracking the events you optimize to and the next dollar with your current partners costs more than the last one. Choose a partner that optimizes on those same MMP events and keeps moving spend toward what converts. Then run a 30-day test with one KPI and a holdout. Judge it on that KPI against the holdout, with cohort quality as the check.
The rest of this guide covers each step, what to look for in the first month and real numbers from campaigns our team has run.
Key points
- Spend keeps concentrating in the biggest networks, which pushes up the cost of every extra user you buy there.
- A new partner earns its place by reaching users your current mix misses, at a cost that holds as you scale.
- Set it up on the MMP events you already trust so every channel is judged on the same numbers.
- Give the test 30 days, one KPI and a holdout before you decide.
- Judge the first month on your KPI against the holdout, with cohort quality as the check and install volume last.
Why are growth teams looking for alternatives to Meta ads?
Because spend keeps concentrating in the biggest networks. AppsFlyer's 2025 Performance Index, based on 16.2 billion non-organic installs across 88 media sources, found that 60% of the global top five networks and 80% of those ranked six to ten grew spend year over year. Only 30% of networks ranked 11 to 20 did.
The money chasing those users keeps growing. Global app install ad spend reached $78 billion in 2025, up 13% year over year. iOS spend grew 35% while Android held flat, according to AppsFlyer's report on the top data trends of 2025.
When budgets flow into the same few auctions, more teams bid for the same users and the cost of the next user climbs. Blended CPA can look healthy while marginal CPA, the cost of your next thousand users, climbs every quarter. That gap is usually the first sign a new partner is worth testing.
The partner you add should reach the users your current mix misses, at a cost that holds as you scale.
What are the main alternatives to Meta ads for app installs?
Most growth teams weigh the same short list. Google App Campaigns reach people across Search, Google Play and YouTube. Apple Search Ads put your app at the top of App Store results. TikTok reaches younger audiences through creative-led video. Rewarded and offerwall networks drive fast volume for games and some utility apps. Programmatic DSPs like PlayDSP buy across thousands of apps, CTV and the web, outside the walled gardens.
Meta's own Advantage+ app campaigns automate targeting, bidding and placements. For many teams they're the baseline every other channel is measured against. They still buy only Meta's inventory, so the users who spend their time in games, news and streaming apps elsewhere are the reach a new partner adds.
How do you know you're ready?
You're ready when all five of these are true.
- Your MMP (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular, Branch or Kochava) is live and the events you optimize to are firing reliably.
- You have one target the business agrees on, such as CPA, cost per trial or D7 ROAS.
- Marginal cost on at least one of your current channels has been rising for a month or more.
- You can fund a real test. Bidding algorithms learn from conversion events. Meta's own guidance puts its learning phase at roughly 50 optimization events a week per ad set. That's a useful benchmark for any new channel.
- Someone on your team owns the test week to week.
If one is missing, fix it first. A test without clean measurement or an owner ends in an argument about the numbers instead of a decision.
What is demand-side platform advertising?
A demand-side platform (DSP) is software that buys ad placements across thousands of apps and publishers through real-time auctions, outside the walled gardens. For most app growth teams it's the right next test because it reaches new users and can optimize on the same MMP events as everything else you run. Here's how the common options compare.
Programmatic DSP
- Where it reaches users. In-app inventory across thousands of apps, plus CTV and web.
- Best for. Incremental reach at scale, optimized on your own events.
- Watch for. Supply quality and how transparent the reporting is.
Another walled garden
- Where it reaches users. Inside one platform.
- Best for. Specific audiences and high-intent placements.
- Watch for. Audience size against your growth goal.
Rewarded and offerwall networks
- Where it reaches users. Users completing actions for rewards.
- Best for. Fast volume for games and some utility apps.
- Watch for. Cohort quality and retention past D7.
CTV performance
- Where it reaches users. Streaming TV, measured back to app events.
- Best for. Household reach and recall.
- Watch for. Measurement that ties views to installs and revenue.
Playdigo's PlayDSP covers the first and last of these. Its multi-algorithm bidding finds the most efficient inventory across 350,000+ apps and 44,000+ publishers and media partners and scales it, with every campaign optimized on your MMP events.
What should you ask before you sign?
Ask how they optimize, what they optimize on, where your spend runs and how fast they move it when performance drops. Reed Sutton, our Director of Sales for the Americas, publishes the full list on October 26 in 10 Questions to Ask a Demand-Side Platform (DSP) Before You Sign. These three matter most when you test a new partner.
- Which event do you optimize to and does it come from my MMP?
- When performance drops, where does my spend go and how fast do you move it?
- Who on your team owns my account day to day?
The third question tells you the most about the month ahead. Here's how Felicity Zhang, Technical Partnership Manager at FeedMob, describes working with our team.
“Their team is highly responsive and proactive, always taking ownership and responsibility for the performance of our campaigns.”
How do you set up a 30-day test?
- Pick one KPI. Use the same target you hold your other channels to. A test judged on three numbers ends up proving whichever one looks best.
- Use your MMP events. The partner optimizes to the events your business runs on and reports where you read everything else.
- Set a holdout. Hold back a region or plan an on and off period so you can measure lift against users who never saw the campaign.
- Brief creative for the placements. Give the partner three to five concepts. A good team builds variations for in-app formats and tests them against your KPI each round.
- Ramp in steps. Start at a budget that clears the learning floor. Once cost reaches target, hold it there for a week. Then raise budget in steps while cost stays in range.
- Review weekly with a person. Every week you should hear what changed, why it changed and what happens next.
Here's how Roi Shimon, Head of Performance at Playdigo, runs the first month with a new advertiser.
“First, I want to understand the advertiser's goals, budget, and what has worked best for them so far. Once we launch, I look at the early performance and the CVR to see if we're heading in the right direction. From there, it's all about testing different creatives, optimizing what works, and gradually scaling the volume.”
How do you know if a new ad channel is working?
Read it week by week in your MMP, not the partner's dashboard. Here's what to look at in the first 30 days.
Week 1
- Look at. Delivery, event firing and where spend is running.
- A healthy sign. Partner numbers reconcile with your MMP.
- A red flag. Results that only exist in the partner's dashboard.
Week 2
- Look at. Early cohort quality (D1 and D3 retention, first purchase or trial).
- A healthy sign. Cohorts close to your other channels.
- A red flag. Installs climb while quality slides.
Week 3
- Look at. Cost against target, plus which creatives and sources are winning.
- A healthy sign. Spend moving toward the sources that convert.
- A red flag. Nobody can explain what changed or why.
Week 4
- Look at. Incremental lift against the holdout plus D7 ROAS.
- A healthy sign. Measurable lift with D7 in your target range.
- A red flag. Lift you can't measure.
Across all four weeks, treat installs as intent and the events after them as proof. A sign-up, a trial, a first purchase or a first deposit tells you how serious that user is. The sources driving those events are the ones worth scaling.
By the end of week four you should be able to make one of three calls. Scale it, keep testing with one specific change, or stop.
What do strong results look like?
These are campaigns our Performance Lab ran for app advertisers.
Leading e-commerce app
- Goal. Installs that turn into purchases while entering a competitive market.
- Results. Purchase rate up 42%, scale up 65%, acquisition cost down 28%.
Leading music streaming app
- Goal. Grow subscribers at an aggressive cost per trial.
- Results. Cost per trial down 38%, scale up 3.2x, 30-day retention 17% higher than their other channels.
Travel and commerce app
- Goal. Profitable growth from paid installs.
- Results. 654% ROI and 7.54x ROAS.
Mobile gaming app
- Goal. Early payback on new players.
- Results. 40% D7 ROAS.
For the e-commerce app, the team built custom banners and native creative for the app's audience, used first-party data to find high-value prospects and optimized toward purchase events in real time. For the music app, they designed creative for trial conversion, combined first and third-party data and kept tuning bids and creative through the whole campaign.
Where do tests of a new ad partner go wrong?
- Too little budget to learn. Spread thin, the algorithm never sees enough conversions to optimize and the test reads as a failure of the channel.
- Judging on installs. Cheap installs from the wrong users look great in week one and cost you in week four.
- Different numbers in every meeting. When the partner reports on its own events, the month goes to reconciling instead of deciding.
- No owner. A test nobody reviews weekly drifts until someone pulls the budget.
FAQ
How much budget does a test of a new ad partner need?
Enough to generate a steady flow of the conversion event you optimize to. Meta's guidance of about 50 optimization events a week per ad set is a useful floor. Work back from your cost per event to set the weekly number, then hold it for 30 days. Testing in Q4 means planning for higher holiday CPMs.
How long should you test a new ad channel?
Plan for 30 days. The first week is learning, weeks two and three show cohort quality and cost trends and week four gives you enough data to read D7 ROAS and incremental lift.
Should your next test be a DSP or another walled garden?
For most app growth teams a programmatic DSP adds more new reach, because it buys across thousands of apps and publishers outside the platforms you already run. Another walled garden makes sense when you need one specific audience it owns.
How do you measure incrementality for a new channel?
Run a holdout. Leave one region dark or plan an on and off period, then compare conversions against the exposed group. Several MMPs offer incrementality tools that run the comparison for you.
What's the difference between A/B testing and incrementality testing?
A/B testing compares two versions of an ad or audience to see which one performs better. Incrementality testing compares people who saw your ads with a holdout who didn't, to measure how many conversions the channel caused. A new channel needs the second, because a winning creative can't tell you whether the channel added users you wouldn't have gotten anyway.
What's the difference between attribution and incrementality?
Attribution gives credit for a conversion to the touchpoint your MMP recorded. Incrementality asks whether that conversion would have happened without the ad. A channel can collect plenty of attributed installs with very little lift. That's why every test of a new partner needs a holdout.
Can a DSP run CTV campaigns for app installs?
Yes. A DSP can tie CTV exposure back to your MMP events so CTV is judged on installs, trials and revenue like every other channel. PlayDSP runs CTV alongside mobile and web.
Plan your next test
If you're setting 2027 targets for your app, send us a message and learn what it's like to PLAY.
