I’ve been digging into AppLovin performance data. The shifts are bigger than most DTC brands realize.

Here’s what I learned from the latest research tracking both Unity and AppLovin through August:

1.) Unity’s comeback story is real

Their Vector launch drove 30-40% budget increases across gaming studios—both large and small. Impression share is climbing on MAX and other platforms, and UA performance is actually improving.

2.) AppLovin’s ecommerce turnaround

Remember the March-May performance trough? That’s behind us. Partners are seeing notably lower CPMs and sequential ROAS gains.

More importantly: appetite to test AppLovin for ecom is back. Agencies and attribution partners are confident they’ll use all available referrals and want more capacity.

So, while gaming competition is heating up, AppLovin’s concrete performance shows no material impact yet. Their scale and network advantages are holding.

For ecommerce brands, the new Axon dashboard with bulk creative uploads and the Shopify partnership for DPAs could be game-changing.

What this means for your strategy? If you wrote off AppLovin during the spring slump, it might be time for another look. The efficiency story is improving, and early Q4 testing capacity is opening up.

Have you tested AppLovin for your ecommerce campaigns recently? If not, let’s talk. The window for first-movers is closing quick.