Mobile Ad Networks for Games: A Directory by Role
The mobile ad ecosystem looks like dozens of categories, but a game’s revenue and UA usually run through a handful of platforms. Here is who does what.
Disclosure: I spent 15 years at Games2win, a mobile games publisher. No company named here paid for inclusion or sponsored this article. I also advise publishers and ad-tech companies, so a company named here may be, or may become, a client or contact.
Integrated platforms (mediation + demand + UA)
- AppLovin — MAX mediation, AppLovin demand, and the AppDiscovery / Axon advertising engine for UA; opened Axon self-serve access to e-commerce advertisers in June 2026.
- Unity — LevelPlay mediation (from ironSource), Unity Ads and ironSource Ads demand, and Unity’s Grow tooling.
- Google — AdMob and Ad Manager demand and mediation; Google App Campaigns for UA across Search, Play, YouTube and display.
- Meta — Meta Audience Network demand; app campaigns across Facebook and Instagram for UA.
Networks and DSPs buying for game advertisers
- Mintegral (part of Mobvista) — programmatic network with strong Asia-Pacific reach, used for both UA and monetization.
- Moloco — machine-learning DSP used by many game advertisers.
- Liftoff (merged with Vungle) — UA and monetization, including the Vungle exchange.
- Pangle (ByteDance) — TikTok’s ad network for app publishers and advertisers.
- InMobi — ad platform with a large presence in India and Asia.
- Digital Turbine — including the DT Exchange.
- Kayzen, Jampp, Remerge, Adikteev, Bidease — programmatic UA and retargeting specialists.
Exchanges and SSPs
- PubMatic, Verve Group, BidMachine, Chartboost — supply-side and exchange demand reaching app inventory, often connected through mediation.
Rewarded, offerwall and loyalty platforms
- Tapjoy (part of Unity), adjoe, Almedia, Mistplay — rewarded engagement and offerwall demand that pays users for play; strong for some genres, requires careful cohort-quality checks.
How should a game decide which to use?
Revenue in most games flows through two or three pipes. Start with a mediation platform and its main bidders, then add partners only for measured gaps — a geo, a format, thin bid density — and keep them only if revenue per eligible opportunity rises net of latency and stability costs. On the UA side, judge each network on matured cohort ROAS and marginal returns, not CPI.
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