See how your app install costs compare. Explore mobile acquisition cost benchmarks by industry, region, and platform
November 2024 - November 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
The Media industry’s cost per app install (CPI) across all countries delivered one of the choppiest stories in our Facebook Ads benchmarks. The series opened high in November 2024 at 289.75, collapsed to 1.22 in December, then spiked to a towering 411.04 in January 2025 before repeatedly whipsawing through spring and easing to 6.96 by July. Against the steadier global, all‑industry benchmark, Media read as both more expensive on average and far more volatile, with standout surges in November, January, March, and April.
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 the Media industry across all countries compared to the global benchmark.
Across the months observed, Media CPI averaged 145.70, with a median of 149.18 — indicating that “typical” months skew expensive despite a few ultra‑low troughs. The high was January 2025 (411.04), while the low was December 2024 (1.22), a 336x range. Month-to-month moves averaged 232.9 points in absolute terms, underscoring sharp swings.
Key movements:
By July, CPI sat 98% below November’s level, signaling a clear downshift after pronounced Q4–Q1 turbulence.
The pattern hints at holiday-and-new-year intensity: outsized costs in late Q4 and a dramatic spike in early Q1, followed by a spring plateau and a mid‑year cool‑down. Q1 averaged 190.9 for Media (buoyed by January’s spike), while the same period for the all‑industry benchmark averaged 9.75 — a wide gap in a season that typically sees heightened competition. By July, CPI for Media drifted to single digits, aligning with a softer mid‑year rhythm.
Compared with the all‑industry global baseline, Media CPI was both higher on average and materially more volatile:
The gap swung widely month to month:
At its widest (January), Media CPI ran nearly 57x the benchmark; at its narrowest (December), it fell 90% below it.
In sum, Facebook Ads cost per app install benchmarks for the Media industry across all countries show an expensive but uneven landscape: towering spikes around late Q4 and early Q1, a spring comedown, and a mid‑year ease. While this read focuses on CPI, marketers often view it alongside CPM analysis, CPC trends, and CTR performance to round out country‑specific ad costs and industry ad performance. Understanding CPI benchmarks for Media across all countries helps teams contextualize volatility against the global all‑industry baseline.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Facebook advertising costs vary based on many factors including industry, target audience, ad placement, and campaign objectives. In the Media industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
iOS CPIs often range from $2 to $5 or more. Android is usually cheaper, between $1 and $3. Your CPI will depend on geo, creative, and optimization goal.
Some regions like the US, UK, and Canada have higher competition and stricter privacy regulations, which drive up costs. Countries with lower purchasing power typically have cheaper CPIs.
Short videos showing app benefits, UGC-style content, and localized messaging tend to perform best. Clear CTAs and fast-paced visuals help lower your CPI.
Optimizing for installs gets volume, but optimizing for actions like signups or purchases brings higher quality users. It depends on your goals and how much post-install behavior matters.
Align your creative with the app experience, avoid misleading ads, and exclude users who already installed. You can also test lookalike audiences based on high-quality users, not just all installers.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
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Cost per lead across different markets
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See how much it costs to get users to install an app