Advertisers and agencies are shifting budgets to independent mobile advertising partners, and the driver is transparency.
A survey of 166 brand and agency leaders who buy programmatic mobile advertising, developed and fielded by EMARKETER in collaboration with Datum Intelligence. It maps where mobile money is moving, why proof of where an ad ran now decides partner selection, and how marketers reward channels that show their return.
A joint study by
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n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
What the Report Covers
Advertisers and agencies are moving mobile budgets out of the walled gardens and into independent mobile advertising partners. The reason is plain. Marketers want to see exactly where their ads run, what they pay, and what they get back. Independent partners show them.
The shift is well underway. 63.9% of respondents moved mobile budget from walled gardens to independents in the past 12 months, and only 1.2% moved money the other way. Looking forward, 73.5% expect their allocation to independents to rise over the next three years, with 25.9% expecting a significant rise.
Large platforms still offer scale, but they keep their view of users and ad delivery paths behind the wall. Partners built directly into apps through their own technology can monitor the full delivery path of an ad and share it with the advertiser. Buyers now select for that proof, and the report shows how consistently they reward it.
Expected change in allocation to independent channels, next three years
n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026. Independent channels sit outside walled garden platforms such as Google, Meta, or TikTok.
Independent partners are winning share of a pool that is itself expanding, so the gains compound.
n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026. Spend forecast: EMARKETER.
Key Findings
Four findings run through the report, each backed by the survey numbers.
Marketers are voting with their dollars, in both current spend and future plans. Nearly two thirds, 63.9%, moved budget across in the past 12 months and only 1.2% moved it back. Looking ahead, 73.5% expect the independent share to keep rising over the next three years.
90.4% call full supply-path transparency, knowing exactly where an ad ran and what it cost, essential (41.0%) or very important (49.4%) when choosing a mobile partner. Pricing transparency ranks second among all selection criteria at 45.8%, ahead of brand reputation.
They measure and reward ROI no matter how they pay, whether by CPM, cost per click, or cost per install. About 72% said accountability is the same or mostly the same regardless of payment model. Even on non-performance buys like CPM, 31.3% always measure channel-level ROI and 41.6% usually do. Only 5.4% never do.
67.5% increased spend with a CPM-paid partner because it delivered measurable ROI, and 28.3% of that group increased it significantly. When an over-performing channel gets a raise, 42.2% of marketers fund it with net-new incremental budget while 46.4% reallocate from other channels. Strong independent performance grows the overall pie rather than splitting it.
n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
A lot of independent mobile channels give advertisers granular data on placements, audience, and bid prices. When combined with their own performance data, they can get fine-tuned ROI.
Partner Selection
The criteria that most influence the choice of an independent mobile advertising partner. Respondents could select up to three. Two of the top four are transparency criteria, marked in red.
Share of respondents selecting each, up to three choices
n=166. Respondents could select up to three. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
call full supply-path transparency essential or very important when choosing a mobile partner.
“Transparency is a big draw for marketers.”
Yory Wurmser, Principal Analyst, EMARKETERn=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
Accountability
Payment model does not change the standard. Whether a channel is bought on CPM, cost per click, or cost per install, marketers hold it to the same test: did it return the money. 33.7% apply the same accountability across all payment models and 38.6% mostly do, about 72% in total.
That scorecard covers buys with no built-in performance guarantee. On non-performance buys like CPM, 31.3% always measure channel-level ROI and 41.6% usually do. Only 5.4% never measure it.
Proof gets funded. 67.5% increased spend with a CPM-paid partner because it delivered measurable ROI, and 28.3% of that group increased it significantly.
How often marketers measure channel-level ROI on non-performance buys
n=166. Remaining responses fall between usually and never. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
Budget source when increasing spend on an over-performing channel
n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
Rewarding Performance
When a channel beats its performance target, marketers respond with budget. The further it beats the target, the larger the increase. At an 80% beat, 45.2% of marketers raise the channel's budget by more than 26%.
| Size of the beat | No change | Increase 1 to 10% | Increase 15 to 25% | Increase 26 to 50% | Increase 50% or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beats target by +10%a solid quarter | 22.9% | 36.8% | 12.1% | 22.9% | 5.4% |
| Beats target by +50%a strong quarter | 11.5% | 27.7% | 30.1% | 21.7% | 9.0% |
| Beats target by +80%a breakout quarter | 13.9% | 20.5% | 20.5% | 28.9% | 16.3% |
n=166. Share of respondents choosing each budget response. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
The Advantage
Transparency is not evenly distributed. Partners built directly into apps through their own technology, AppLovin, InMobi, and Liftoff among them, can monitor the full delivery path of an ad and share it with the buyer. Partners that resell inventory at a remove cannot show the same view.
That is why the established group holds 57.1% of future independent budgets, barely different from where the money sits today. Holding that share while the overall pie grows is the point. The advantage belongs to whoever can prove what happened.
n=166. Source: EMARKETER and Datum Intelligence, “Independent Mobile Advertising Survey,” July 2026.
From the Report
The report closes with a practical checklist for marketers building their next mobile plan.
Identify independent mobile measurement solutions before the campaign starts, not after.
Approve budgets that are flexible and don't hamper growth when a channel starts to win.
Evaluate mobile partners that provide supply-path and price transparency.
Ensure independent measurement to prove ROI so you can build on success.
Report Scope
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EMARKETER is the leading research, data, and insights provider for marketing, advertising, and commerce professionals. Its data-centric forecasts and rigorous analysis support strategic decisions for revenue-driving teams, and its forecasts, reports, and benchmarks help companies anticipate market trends. EMARKETER is a division of Axel Springer S.E.