Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks for Media

Introduction

The Media industry’s cost-per-app-install (CPI) across all countries moved in extremes—soaring well above the market in some months and plunging below it in others—while the global benchmark for all industries stayed relatively steady. The year opened with a record spike in January, cooled rapidly by February, and then settled into an elevated spring before dropping to single digits by July. Volatility, not direction, defined the story.

This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Media in all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Media CPI across all countries averaged about 145.7 over the observed months, with a high of 411.0 in January and a low of 1.22 in December—a more than 300x spread. The sequence was dramatic:

• November: 289.8 (starting point)
• December: 1.22 (down 99.6% from November)
• January: 411.0 (more than 330x December)
• February: 7.17 (down 98% from January)
• March: 154.6 (roughly 22x February)
• April: 149.2 (off 3.5% from March)
• July: 6.96 (down 95% from April)

Average absolute month-to-month movement for Media was roughly 233 points, reflecting severe swings. By contrast, the global benchmark moved just 3.8 points on average over the same intervals.

The baseline (all industries, global) over the same months averaged 11.1, ranging from 6.56 in January to 15.0 in November. Across the full Nov–Oct window, the global average was about 14.2, peaking in June at 27.78 and dipping in January at 6.56—large enough to signal seasonality, but mild compared to Media’s whiplash.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonally, the Media series delivered sharp reversals rather than gentle arcs:

• Q4 pivot: A steep drop from November to December interrupted typical late-year inflation, with CPI collapsing from 289.8 to 1.22.
• Q1 whipsaw: January surged to an all-period high (411.0), followed by a February reset to 7.17, then a March rebound to 154.6. Q1 averaged roughly 190.9 for Media versus 9.1 for the global benchmark.
• Spring firmness: April held near March at 149.2, indicating a brief period of elevated but steadier costs.
• Early Q3 cooldown: With May–June missing in the series, July reopened at 6.96—its lowest reading since February and 98% below January’s peak.

Meanwhile, the global benchmark showed a cleaner seasonal rhythm: softer in December–January, rebounding in February–April, elevated into mid-year, and near trend by July.

Media vs. Global

Relative to Facebook Ads benchmarks, Media CPI toggled between far above market and materially below:

• Above market: November (+1,836% vs. global), January (+6,166%), March (+1,764%), April (+1,114%).
• Below market: December (−89% vs. global), February (−42%), July (−45%).

Across the observed months, Media’s average CPI (~145.7) was over 13x the global average (~11.1). The overall trend for Media fell 98% from November to July, while the global benchmark dipped about 15% over the same span. At its narrowest gap, Media sat about 42–45% below the benchmark (February–July). At its widest, January exceeded the global median by more than 60x. Volatility in Media was orders of magnitude higher than the market, with larger spikes and deeper troughs defining its path.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads cost-per-app-install benchmarks for the Media industry across all countries—and how they diverge from global patterns—helps marketers interpret country-specific ad costs, CPI trends, and creative-era volatility versus the broader market. This CPI performance view benchmarks Media’s industry ad performance against the global baseline to clarify when costs ran above or below typical Facebook Ads benchmarks.