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17.02.2026

How OEM Traffic Changes Your  Creative Strategy on Android

Most Android creative strategies are built for feeds. Social feeds, in-app feeds, endless scrolling environments where ads fight for attention. OEM traffic lives outside of that world. When ads appear on system-level surfaces, creative rules change completely. Teams that reuse in-app or social creatives for OEM often blame traffic quality when performance drops. In reality, the issue sits one layer higher. OEM traffic requires a different creative mindset. Why Feed-Based Creatives Stop Working In classic UA channels, creatives interrupt content. Users scroll, consume, and get distracted. The creative’s job is to break that flow, grab attention, and earn a click. OEM surfaces do not interrupt anything. They exist as part of the device experience itself. There is no feed, no scroll, no surrounding content. The creative is not competing with entertainment. It is competing with system elements. That alone makes most feed-optimized Android creatives feel out of place. System Surfaces Don’t Wait for Your Story One of the biggest creative mistakes in OEM campaigns is assuming time. High-motion videos, multi-step narratives, emotional hooks. These assets rely on users watching, processing, and staying engaged. OEM surfaces don’t allow that. Users glance, not watch. They scan, not explore. Decisions are made in seconds, often subconsciously. If the value is not obvious immediately, the creative loses its moment. When “Better Production” Becomes a Disadvantage OEM traffic exposes an uncomfortable truth. More production does not always mean better performance. Polished creatives often: On system surfaces, this works against you. OEM environments reward simplicity and clarity, not persuasion. The best-performing creatives often look boring by social standards. They win because they feel appropriate for the device. What OEM Creatives Are Really Competing With In feeds, ads compete with other ads. In OEM environments, creatives compete with trust. System-level placements inherit a certain credibility. Users subconsciously treat them as suggestions, not promotions. Anything that feels too aggressive or sales-driven breaks that trust instantly. This is why native-looking creatives outperform flashy ones. They don’t scream for attention. They quietly make sense. Why Message Density Beats Visual Complexity OEM creatives are judged on one thing: how fast the user understands the value. Strong OEM creatives usually: Icons, titles, and the first screenshot often matter more than the rest of the asset set. If those elements don’t land, nothing else gets a chance. OEM creatives don’t sell dreams. They answer the question “what is this and why should I care” instantly. How OEM Traffic Changes Creative Testing Creative testing in OEM traffic is not about volume. It’s about precision. Instead of cycling dozens of variations, experienced teams: OEM traffic accelerates feedback loops. Weak creatives are exposed quickly. Strong ones scale cleanly. Designing Creatives That Belong on the Device Effective OEM creative strategy starts with context. That means: When creatives feel native to the device, performance stabilizes naturally. Where Creative Strategy Becomes a Growth Lever OEM traffic does not fail because users behave differently. It fails when creatives ignore where they appear. UA teams that adapt their creative logic to system-level environments unlock: This is not about reinventing creativity.  It’s about respecting context. The Creative Reality Check OEM traffic forces honesty. It removes the illusion that louder, brighter, or more emotional creatives always win. On Android system surfaces, relevance beats persuasion, and clarity beats storytelling. In 2026, strong UA teams will not ask whether OEM traffic works. They will ask whether their creatives actually belong on the device. That question is what separates unstable tests from scalable OEM growth.

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13.02.2026

The Hidden Cost of Cheap OEM Installs: Where UA Teams Lose Money Without Noticing

Cheap OEM installs are one of the most attractive things in Android user acquisition. Low CPI, clean traffic, fast scale — everything looks right in the dashboard. That’s exactly why they’re dangerous. Many UA teams scale OEM traffic based on early signals and only realize much later that unit economics no longer add up. The issue is not OEM traffic itself. The issue is how “cheap” installs quietly distort decision-making. Why Cheap OEM Installs Look Like a Clear Win Low CPI is one of the strongest psychological triggers in performance marketing. When OEM installs come in noticeably cheaper than paid social or in-app networks, the instinctive reaction is to scale. OEM traffic reinforces this confidence: At this stage, OEM advertising feels like found money. But CPI alone only tells you how easy the install was — not how valuable it will be. What Actually Makes OEM Installs Cheap OEM installs are often cheap for one simple reason: friction is removed. Users install apps: This shifts the install earlier in the user journey.Earlier does not mean worse — but it does mean less intent at the moment of install. That difference is where the economics begin to change. Where CPI Starts Lying to You The Early Metrics Comfort Zone OEM campaigns often look strong in the first 24 hours: This creates a false sense of stability. Early engagement happens because users are curious and the app is new to them, not because long-term value is guaranteed. CPI and D1 are not wrong metrics. They are just insufficient for OEM traffic. The Silent Drop After the First Session The real signal appears later: Because installs were cheap, these issues are easy to ignore. Budgets continue flowing into cohorts that never stabilize. This is where UA teams start losing money without seeing it directly. How Cheap OEM Installs Break App Economics The damage does not show up as a single red flag.It spreads quietly across the funnel: None of this looks dramatic in isolation. Together, it creates a situation where growth continues, but profitability erodes. Cheap installs don’t destroy performance overnight. They scale inefficiency. Why OEM Traffic Needs Different KPIs OEM traffic enters the funnel earlier than most Android channels. That alone makes CPI-centric evaluation risky. For OEM user acquisition, stronger indicators are: When OEM traffic is evaluated with paid social KPIs, it looks unpredictable. When it’s evaluated with activation-focused metrics, patterns become clear. How Strong UA Teams Reframe OEM Performance Teams that succeed with OEM advertising don’t chase the lowest CPI.They optimize for value confirmation speed. What they do differently: OEM traffic rewards discipline more than aggression. What This Means for Android Growth in 2026 OEM traffic is not a shortcut to cheap growth. It is an early-access channel with different economic rules. UA teams that understand this stop asking why OEM “doesn’t monetize.” They start designing funnels that can handle users arriving before intent is fully formed. The Real Cost Equation Cheap OEM installs are not a problem. Misreading what “cheap” actually means is. When OEM traffic is measured beyond CPI and early metrics, it becomes one of the most controllable and scalable Android acquisition channels. When it isn’t, it quietly drains budget while looking efficient on paper. In 2026, winning OEM strategies won’t be built around the lowest CPI. They will be built around the shortest path from install to real value.

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10.02.2026

Android App Store Diversification: How UA Teams Should Split Traffic Between Google Play and OEM Stores

For years, Android user acquisition followed a simple rule: all roads lead to Google Play. No matter where traffic came from, installs were optimized around one store, one benchmark set, and one mental model. That rule is starting to break. As OEM ecosystems mature, UA teams are facing a new question that didn’t exist before: when does it make sense to deliberately move part of your traffic away from Google Play and into OEM app stores? For many apps, this is no longer a theoretical discussion. It’s a performance decision. How Google Play Became the Default Answer Google Play earned its role as the center of Android growth. It offers scale, predictable attribution, established ASO mechanics, and familiar monetization patterns. For a long time, OEM app stores existed on the periphery. They were treated as technical endpoints or regional requirements, not as places where acquisition strategy was shaped. That led to a привычный подход: This logic worked when discovery happened mostly in one place. It starts to crack when discovery spreads across device-level ecosystems. The Moment Diversification Stops Being Optional Most teams don’t diversify because they want to. They do it because reality pushes them there. Cost pressure is usually the first signal. As competition intensifies, Google Play–centric flows become more expensive, while incremental gains shrink. OEM stores often introduce additional supply where pricing behaves differently. The second signal comes from OEM-native formats. On-device placements naturally lead users into OEM stores. Forcing those users through Google Play can add friction instead of removing it. The third signal is geography. In some regions, OEM ecosystems are not alternatives. They are the default. Ignoring them means ignoring how users actually discover apps. Diversification becomes rational when Google Play stops being the only place where intent is formed. Splitting Budgets Without Turning It Into a Gamble The biggest mistake teams make is framing this as a choice between stores. It’s not. Strong UA teams don’t ask where traffic should go. They ask where it performs better in context. In practice, the split often looks like this: Over time, this creates balance. Google Play provides stability. OEM stores provide incremental reach and pricing flexibility. Where Diversification Usually Breaks App store diversification has real costs, and teams underestimate them at their own risk. Operational overhead is the most obvious one. Separate builds, compliance rules, store updates, and release timing all add friction. Without clear ownership, diversification stalls fast. Another issue is expectations. OEM stores don’t behave like Google Play. Rankings, reviews, and discovery mechanics follow different rules. Judging OEM store performance through Play-centric benchmarks leads to false negatives. Measurement is the quiet failure point. If store-level performance is not segmented properly, diversification gets lost inside “Android totals” and becomes impossible to evaluate honestly. The Benefits Teams Don’t Plan For Once diversification is implemented properly, unexpected advantages tend to surface. One is resilience. When performance on Google Play fluctuates due to competition or algorithm shifts, OEM stores provide an alternative path to volume. Another is better alignment with OEM traffic economics. When discovery and installation happen inside the same ecosystem, conversion rates often improve. There’s also a structural benefit. Diversification forces better discipline. Teams start analyzing performance by store, by entry point, and by user intent. That clarity usually improves decision-making across all Android UA, not just OEM campaigns. What a Mature Diversification Strategy Looks Like By 2026, app store diversification should feel intentional, not experimental. In practice, that means: Teams that work this way don’t move away from Google Play. They simply stop depending on it as a single point of failure. The Real Takeaway Android growth no longer happens in one place. Discovery is spreading across devices, ecosystems, and stores, and UA strategies need to reflect that reality. Google Play remains critical, but it is no longer the only environment shaping user intent. The strongest Android strategies in 2026 won’t choose between Google Play and OEM stores. They will understand exactly when each store works best and design acquisition flows accordingly. That’s what app store diversification actually unlocks: control, not complexity.

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06.02.2026

Why OEM Traffic Scales Differently Than Paid Social and How to Forecast It Correctly

OEM traffic often looks deceptively simple at the start. Costs are attractive, fraud is low, and early results feel promising. Many UA teams approach it with the same expectations they have for paid social or in-app networks. That is where problems usually begin. OEM traffic does scale, but it follows a different logic. Understanding that logic is what allows advertisers to move from testing OEM campaigns to building predictable Android growth through OEM advertising. Why OEM Scale Is Often Misunderstood Most UA managers are trained on demand-driven channels. Paid social and search work in a familiar way: increase budget, reach more users, unlock more volume. Forecasting is largely incremental and linear. OEM traffic does not work like that. OEM user acquisition is tied to real device-level supply. Volume depends on how many devices are activated, how often system surfaces are shown, and how OEM inventory is distributed across regions, formats, and time. You are not bidding inside an endless feed. You are accessing a limited number of discovery moments that exist only when users interact with their devices. When OEM traffic is forecasted using paid social logic, expectations quickly diverge from reality. What looks like a scaling issue is usually a planning issue. What Actually Drives OEM Scaling and Plateaus OEM Plateaus Are Signals, Not Failures One of the most common concerns we hear is that OEM traffic “hits a ceiling.” In practice, this ceiling usually means one of three things. First, the available inventory for a specific format or geo has already been reached. Setup flows, system recommendations, or preloads can only show so often per user. Second, a single surface is being overused. Increasing budget does not unlock new users, it only increases pressure on the same placement. Third, timing plays a role. OEM supply fluctuates with device sales cycles, OS updates, and regional launches. Flat volume does not always mean declining performance. In OEM advertising, plateaus are part of the channel’s structure. They are indicators of saturation, not signs that the channel stopped working. Why OEM Traffic Scales in Steps, Not Lines Paid social usually scales smoothly. OEM traffic scales in steps. A typical pattern looks like this: This step-based behavior often surprises teams that expect continuous curves. In reality, it reflects how OEM inventory is released and consumed. Scale comes from expansion, not from pushing harder on the same surface. For Android OEM advertising, this is normal behavior. Forecasting OEM Traffic Requires a Different Mental Model Successful OEM forecasting does not start with budget. It starts with supply. Instead of asking “how much can we spend,” stronger OEM forecasts answer questions like: This turns OEM user acquisition planning into capacity planning. Forecasts become more conservative, but also far more reliable. Why Paid Social Benchmarks Don’t Translate Another frequent mistake is comparing OEM traffic performance directly to Meta or Google benchmarks. Paid social growth is driven by auction dynamics, audience expansion, and creative iteration. OEM traffic growth is driven by inventory access, device distribution, and ecosystem coverage. Both channels can deliver scale, but they scale for very different reasons. Expecting OEM traffic to behave like a feed-based channel leads to the wrong conclusions and the wrong internal expectations. The Resolution: How UA Teams Should Forecast OEM Traffic in 2026 OEM traffic works best when treated as a supply-based Android acquisition channel. In practice, that means: Teams that adopt this mindset stop chasing short-term volume spikes. They start building sustainable OEM-driven Android app growth. Conclusion OEM traffic does not scale worse than paid social. It scales differently. It is tied to real devices, real user moments, and finite OEM inventory. Once that reality is reflected in forecasting and planning, OEM advertising becomes one of the most predictable and controllable acquisition channels on Android. In 2026, the advantage is not simply accessing OEM traffic. The advantage is understanding how each OEM surface contributes to scale and knowing exactly when to open the next one. For advertisers and UA managers, that is the difference between testing OEM campaigns and relying on OEM traffic as a core growth channel.

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04.02.2026

The New UA Mix: How Brands Combine Social, OEM, and Programmatic Channels for Sustainable Growth

User acquisition is no longer driven by a single dominant channel. According to analyses from Business of Apps, Singular, Zoomd, AppSamurai, and OEM-focused partners such as AVOW, today’s highest-performing UA strategies combine social platforms, OEM advertising channels, and programmatic inventory within a unified growth framework. This diversified mix helps brands counter rising acquisition costs, protect performance against privacy constraints, and reach user segments that traditional networks no longer efficiently deliver. Why the UA Mix Is Changing Industry reports highlight the same set of forces reshaping how marketers acquire users: Across these sources, the conclusion is clear: relying only on social or programmatic channels no longer produces stable, scalable growth. Social Channels: Still the Foundation Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube remain essential UA pillars. Business of Apps identifies social channels as the baseline layer of user acquisition – crucial for: But social platforms alone cannot sustain growth in an environment of rising CPIs and shrinking signal visibility. As AppSamurai notes, advertisers increasingly pair social with complementary channels. OEM Channels: The Underused but Essential Growth Engine OEM advertising: preloads, on-device placements, OEM app stores, system-UI inventory, has moved from niche to mainstream. According to Business of Apps, OEM partners (Huawei, Xiaomi, Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Transsion and others) provide access to more than 1.5 billion monthly active users. AVOW highlights OEM channels as one of the most effective ways to reach users beyond the touchpoints of standard networks. Industry documentation points to several unique advantages of OEM ads: Case studies from AVOW show that OEM campaigns consistently outperform traditional preload channels and complement established UA sources by unlocking cost-efficient installs and new user segments. AppsFlyer also frames OEM preloads as a way to “move beyond programmatic, search, and social,” providing new growth corridors for brands whose traditional channels have plateaued. Programmatic: The Scalable Middle Layer Programmatic channels: DSPs, exchanges, and in-app programmatic inventory, complete the modern UA mix. Zoomd and AppSamurai describe programmatic as the “connective tissue” of a diversified UA strategy, enabling: Digital Turbine explicitly pairs OEM traffic with programmatic campaigns to reach users from first boot (on-device) and then maintain engagement through targeted in-app ads. Programmatic therefore supports long-term UA expansion, adding flexibility across formats, audiences, and placements. The New UA Mix: A Three-Pillar Strategy Synthesizing insights across all referenced sources, the 2025 UA mix looks like this: 1. Social: Creative learning + scale + high-volume intent capture. 2. OEM: Incremental reach + device-native placements + market expansion into regions dominated by OEM ecosystems. 3. Programmatic: Ongoing scale + retargeting + cost balancing across channels. Singular emphasizes that diversified channels are now essential for performance stability; Business of Apps stresses the need for a multi-channel acquisition framework; and Zoomd positions OEM, social, and programmatic as the core combination for post-privacy growth. Conclusion The new UA mix is no longer an optional strategy, it is the industry standard. By combining social platforms, OEM advertising, and programmatic supply, brands can: As acquisition costs rise and global markets evolve, marketers that adopt a balanced, multi-channel UA portfolio are best positioned to compete and scale efficiently. The New UA Mix: How Brands Combine Social, OEM, and Programmatic Channels for Sustainable Growth User acquisition is no longer driven by a single dominant channel. According to analyses from Business of Apps, Singular, Zoomd, AppSamurai, and OEM-focused partners such as AVOW, today’s highest-performing UA strategies combine social platforms, OEM advertising channels, and programmatic inventory within a unified growth framework. This diversified mix helps brands counter rising acquisition costs, protect performance against privacy constraints, and reach user segments that traditional networks no longer efficiently deliver. Why the UA Mix Is Changing Industry reports highlight the same set of forces reshaping how marketers acquire users: Across these sources, the conclusion is clear: relying only on social or programmatic channels no longer produces stable, scalable growth. Social Channels: Still the Foundation Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube remain essential UA pillars. Business of Apps identifies social channels as the baseline layer of user acquisition – crucial for: But social platforms alone cannot sustain growth in an environment of rising CPIs and shrinking signal visibility. As AppSamurai notes, advertisers increasingly pair social with complementary channels. OEM Channels: The Underused but Essential Growth Engine OEM advertising: preloads, on-device placements, OEM app stores, system-UI inventory, has moved from niche to mainstream. According to Business of Apps, OEM partners (Huawei, Xiaomi, Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Transsion and others) provide access to more than 1.5 billion monthly active users. AVOW highlights OEM channels as one of the most effective ways to reach users beyond the touchpoints of standard networks. Industry documentation points to several unique advantages of OEM ads: Case studies from AVOW show that OEM campaigns consistently outperform traditional preload channels and complement established UA sources by unlocking cost-efficient installs and new user segments. AppsFlyer also frames OEM preloads as a way to “move beyond programmatic, search, and social,” providing new growth corridors for brands whose traditional channels have plateaued. Programmatic: The Scalable Middle Layer Programmatic channels: DSPs, exchanges, and in-app programmatic inventory, complete the modern UA mix. Zoomd and AppSamurai describe programmatic as the “connective tissue” of a diversified UA strategy, enabling: Digital Turbine explicitly pairs OEM traffic with programmatic campaigns to reach users from first boot (on-device) and then maintain engagement through targeted in-app ads. Programmatic therefore supports long-term UA expansion, adding flexibility across formats, audiences, and placements. The New UA Mix: A Three-Pillar Strategy Synthesizing insights across all referenced sources, the 2025 UA mix looks like this: 1. Social: Creative learning + scale + high-volume intent capture. 2. OEM: Incremental reach + device-native placements + market expansion into regions dominated by OEM ecosystems. 3. Programmatic: Ongoing scale + retargeting + cost balancing across channels. Singular emphasizes that diversified channels are now essential for performance stability; Business of Apps stresses the need for a multi-channel acquisition framework; and Zoomd positions OEM, social, and programmatic as the core combination for post-privacy growth. Conclusion The new UA mix is no longer an optional strategy, it is

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30.01.2026

When Measurement Caught Up: Why OEM Ads Finally Became a Real Performance Channel

For years, OEM traffic lived in an uncomfortable middle ground. It scaled, it looked clean, but it never fully earned the same trust as paid social or search. Not because performance was weak — but because measurement felt incomplete. In 2026, that gap has effectively closed. OEM ads didn’t change their nature; the way we measure them did. And that shift has quietly turned OEM from a “useful supplement” into a channel that can sit confidently inside a performance UA plan. Why OEM Was Treated Differently If you ask experienced UA managers why OEM traffic was historically treated with caution, the answer is rarely about CPI or fraud. It’s about confidence. OEM installs don’t follow the classic user journey:ad → click → store → install. They happen: From a measurement standpoint, this used to break familiar rules. Last-touch logic felt unreliable. Probabilistic models felt risky. And in a world moving away from device identifiers, OEM sometimes looked like a step backward instead of forward. As a result, OEM was often boxed into one of two roles: That perception lasted longer than it should have. What Actually Changed in OEM Measurement The turning point wasn’t a single feature release. It was a structural shift toward deterministic attribution, driven by how OEM installs are technically executed. Referrer-Based Attribution Replaced Guesswork Modern OEM measurement relies on install referrers generated at the system or store level — not inferred through user identity or probabilistic matching. Platforms like AppsFlyer document preload referrer attribution that: This matters because the install itself now carries its own explanation. There’s no need to reconstruct the path after the fact. Google Play Auto Install (PAI) Brought Order to Preloads Another major step was the formalization of Google Play Auto Install (PAI) flows. As explained by Singular, PAI: This removed a long-standing ambiguity: who gets credit for the install. OEM installs stopped being “special cases” and started behaving like first-class attribution events. Pre-Install Measurement Closed the Last Blind Spots Measurement providers such as Adjust further clarified how pre-install and in-device engagement can be recorded and attributed, often with extended attribution windows that reflect the reality of OEM flows. The net effect is simple but powerful:OEM installs are no longer inferred.They are explicitly classified. Why OEM Measurement Is Naturally Privacy-Resilient An overlooked side effect of this evolution is that OEM attribution aligns well with modern privacy constraints. Referrer-based logic: While many traditional channels are still adapting their measurement models, OEM attribution already operates in a world where determinism doesn’t depend on identity. That’s not a workaround — it’s an advantage. How UA Teams Should Think About OEM Measurement Now In 2026, the limiting factor for OEM performance is no longer measurement infrastructure. It’s how teams configure and interpret it. What consistently separates teams that trust OEM from those that don’t: Once OEM is measured on its own mechanics — not forced into legacy logic — it stops feeling opaque. At that point, the question shifts from“Can we trust these installs?” to“Which OEM formats deserve more budget?” That’s the exact transition every performance channel goes through on its way to maturity. Conclusion OEM ads didn’t suddenly become more effective.They became more legible. What once felt like a black box is now one of the more deterministic, privacy-resilient acquisition paths on Android — provided it’s implemented correctly. In 2026, OEM should no longer sit on the edge of the media plan. Not because it’s cheap, but because it’s measurable in a way that aligns with where mobile measurement is heading. For advertisers and UA managers, that’s the difference between testing OEM — and finally planning around it.

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28.01.2026

From Notifications to Discovery: How Lock Screens Are Becoming a New App Acquisition Channel

For a long time, the lock screen was treated as dead space. A place for notifications, time, battery level — nothing more. In UA planning, it rarely appeared as a serious discovery surface. That assumption is no longer true. OEM ecosystems are actively transforming lock screens into high-visibility discovery environments, where apps are not just seen, but installed. For advertisers, this shift changes how discovery works — and what actually drives performance. The Setup: Why Lock Screens Were Ignored for So Long From a UA perspective, lock screens used to feel off-limits. They were passive. They weren’t scrollable. They didn’t behave like feeds, stores, or placements with intent signals. Most performance teams focused on environments where users were already “in motion”: social feeds, games, search results, app stores. The lock screen sat outside that logic — something the user passed through, not something they engaged with. But OEMs see the lock screen differently. It is the most frequently viewed screen on the device. Users unlock their phones dozens — sometimes hundreds — of times per day. That makes the lock screen not just visible, but habitual. Once OEMs started treating it as owned inventory rather than system UI, its role began to change. The Climax: How Lock Screens Became a Discovery Surface From Passive UI to Active Recommendation Layer Modern OEM lock screens are no longer just static backgrounds with notifications. In several ecosystems, they now include full-screen content modules, recommendations, and interactive units. A clear example is Glance, which operates as an OEM-partnered lock screen experience. In performance campaigns, Glance enables One-Click Install (OCI) flows — allowing users to initiate an app install directly from the lock screen, without first opening an app or browsing a store. At that point, the lock screen stops being a notification layer and becomes an entry point into the acquisition funnel. Why Lock Screen Discovery Behaves Differently Lock screen discovery does not compete with feeds or search. It competes with attention in idle moments. Users encounter lock screen content: That context explains why traditional ad logic often fails here. There is no scrolling behavior.There is no exploration mindset.There is no tolerance for complexity. The decision is binary and fast: ignore or act. This is why lock screen discovery rewards: Anything that looks like a conventional “ad” — multiple messages, small text, layered CTAs — tends to lose immediately. Install Initiation Changes the Funnel One of the most important shifts is where the install happens. In classic UA, install intent builds across multiple steps: impression → click → store → install. On lock screens with OCI-style flows, that process is compressed. The user sees a value proposition and can trigger an install without entering a store-first mindset. This has two implications for UA teams: As a result, lock screen campaigns often show: The lock screen doesn’t forgive weak first-session experiences. Why Creative Discipline Matters More Than Ever Lock screen inventory is unforgiving. You don’t get a second frame.You don’t get a swipe.You don’t get a scroll. That’s why the most successful lock screen campaigns follow a very strict creative discipline: From a media buying perspective, this is closer to outdoor advertising logic than digital feed advertising. Clarity beats cleverness. Recognition beats explanation. The Resolution: How UA Teams Should Treat Lock Screens in 2026 Lock screens should no longer be treated as an experimental side format. They are becoming a distinct discovery layer with its own rules. For advertisers and UA managers, the practical approach looks like this: Lock screen discovery is not about persuasion. It’s about interruption done right. Conclusion The lock screen is no longer just a place where apps wait to be opened. In modern OEM ecosystems, it’s where apps are found. As OEMs continue to productize device-level surfaces, lock screens are emerging as one of the most powerful — and misunderstood — acquisition environments. For teams willing to adapt their creative logic, measurement expectations, and onboarding strategy, lock screens offer access to user attention that few other channels can match. In the next phase of mobile growth, discovery won’t start in feeds or stores. It will start before the phone is even unlocked.

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22.01.2026

OEMAD — New Features & Improvements

1) Smarter event-based optimization (avg. event cost ↓ 15%) We upgraded our event-optimization engine to learn faster from post-install signals and allocate spend more efficiently across placements. Result: clients are seeing ~15% lower average cost per event, while keeping volume stable. What improved behind the scenes: 2) New organization-based account structure (unlimited ad accounts & campaigns) We redesigned the way accounts are structured: Why it matters: it’s now much easier to separate budgets by app, geo, team, or business line—and manage everything cleanly in one place. 3) New OEM inventory added (lower user acquisition costs) We added new OEM inventory sources, expanding reach and improving pricing efficiency. More supply + better matching typically = better CPM/CPI dynamics, especially at scale. Expected impact: more stable volumes and an additional lever for lower cost per new user. 4) Self-serve cabinet is nearly ready (public access in a couple of months) The self-serve dashboard is in the final stage. Very soon, all clients will be able to: We’re polishing UX, permissions, and guardrails to make sure it’s safe and simple from day one. 5) Faster, tighter MMP integration (better optimization quality) We improved the way OEMAD connects to MMPs so that event data arrives and processes faster. What you’ll notice: Extra OEMAD updates (to show active development) To make it obvious that the product is moving quickly, you can also mention these recent “platform maturity” upgrades (choose what matches what you actually shipped): What to expect next

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20.01.2026

Retention and LTV in OEM Traffic: What Really Happens After the Install

OEM traffic is often described in simple terms: clean installs, low fraud, strong early metrics. And in many cases, that’s true. But if you’ve actually scaled OEM campaigns, you know that installs are only the beginning. The real questions start later: Who stays? Who churns? And which OEM users are worth scaling for long-term value? This is where most misconceptions around OEM retention and LTV appear. The Setup: Why OEM Retention Is Easy to Misread Most teams look at OEM traffic the same way they look at paid social or in-app networks. CPI goes down, D1 looks strong — everything seems fine. Then someone opens a D7 or D30 report and the doubts begin. At that point, OEM traffic often gets labeled as “short-term” or “good for volume, not for quality”. In practice, the issue is not OEM traffic itself.The issue is how early OEM users are introduced to the product. On-device placements — setup flows, preloads, system recommendations — surface apps before users have fully formed their daily habits. That gives OEM traffic a unique advantage in scale, but it also changes post-install behavior. Expecting these users to behave exactly like social or search cohorts is where the mismatch starts. The Climax: What Retention and LTV Actually Look Like in OEM Why D1 Is Often Strong — and Why That’s Not the Full Story Strong Day-1 retention is one of the most common OEM patterns. Users install, open the app, maybe complete onboarding. From the outside, it looks great. But the install decision in OEM often happens with less deliberate intent. The user didn’t search, didn’t compare screenshots, didn’t read reviews. They accepted a recommendation at a moment of convenience. What we often see in data: This doesn’t mean OEM traffic is “low quality”. It means intent is distributed unevenly — and averages hide that. Formats Matter More Than Most Teams Expect Not all OEM formats create the same type of user. From real campaign data, the pattern is consistent: Calling all of this simply “OEM traffic” misses the point.Retention lives at the format level, not the channel level. Why OEM-Level Segmentation Is Non-Negotiable Another mistake we see often: evaluating OEM performance as one blended source. Different OEM ecosystems attract different users, device tiers, and usage patterns. The same app can show completely different LTV curves depending on where the install comes from. Some ecosystems skew toward: When OEM data is blended, good cohorts subsidize weak ones, and decisions get distorted. Teams that segment by OEM × format × entry point see much clearer signals — and scale with far more confidence. Cheap Install vs. Valuable User Low CPI is one of OEM’s strongest selling points — and one of its biggest traps. A cheap install usually means: A valuable OEM user shows up later: The difference only becomes visible in cohort analysis. If you’re not looking past install and D1, OEM will always feel confusing. The Resolution: How We See OEM Retention Done Right From the perspective of a traffic source, OEM works best when it’s treated as a long-game channel, not a CPI arbitrage tool. What consistently works for advertisers who scale OEM successfully: OEM traffic introduces users early. That’s its strength — and its responsibility. Products that can anchor themselves into daily behavior benefit disproportionately. Products that rely on delayed or unclear value struggle. Conclusion OEM traffic doesn’t have a retention problem.It has a timing problem — and timing cuts both ways. When OEM is treated as just another install source, it disappoints. When it’s treated as a system-level discovery channel with its own logic, it delivers users that other channels simply can’t reach at the same scale. The teams that win with OEM in 2026 won’t be the ones chasing the lowest CPI.They’ll be the ones who understand which OEM users stay — and why.

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16.01.2026

How OEM Ads Are Changing the App Discovery Journey

For years, app discovery followed a familiar script: users saw an ad in an app, tapped, landed in an app store, and made a decision on the store page. OEM advertising is changing that script by moving discovery upstream into the device itself. Setup flows, lock screens, OEM stores, and on-device recommendation surfaces are becoming discovery engines, while “frictionless install” mechanics compress the time between awareness and install. The result: a new app discovery journey that can outperform traditional paths: if UA teams adapt their creative, measurement, and post-install experience. The Setup: Discovery Is No Longer “In-App → App Store” OEM campaigns aren’t just another placement. They represent a structural shift in where discovery happens. Measurement leaders now explicitly define “preload campaigns” as partnerships with OEMs, mobile carriers, and app discovery platforms that preload apps at the factory or trigger downloads at first device activation, before the user has settled into their usual app habits. That timing matters. If you reach users during device setup, you’re influencing decisions when the user is still building their “default app set”— which changes both conversion dynamics and downstream engagement patterns. What the New OEM Discovery Journey Looks Like 1) Setup-Time Discovery Becomes a First-Class Moment Dynamic preloads and onboarding prompts are effective precisely because users are highly engaged during setup, and recommendations can be aligned to preferences and context. Industry guides describe dynamic preloads as more flexible than static factory preloads and emphasize that setup is a uniquely high-attention window. What this means for UA: You’re not only competing with other ads, you’re competing with the user’s desire to “finish setup fast.” Your message must be instantly clear, and your value proposition must be obvious in seconds. 2) “Frictionless Installs” Shrink the Discovery Funnel A major OEM-driven change is reducing store friction. Some flows let users trigger an install without a traditional app store redirect. What this means for UA: When install friction drops, “cheap installs” become easier to generate but intent can be thinner. Your first-session experience (onboarding + deep links) becomes the real make-or-break step. 3) Lock Screen Moves From Passive Surface to Discovery Channel OEM ecosystems are turning lock screens into high-visibility discovery inventory. Glance’s OCI flow is a concrete example of how a lock screen can function as an install initiation surface rather than merely a notification layer. What this means for UA: Lock screen discovery favors bold simplicity: one idea, one visual, one CTA. “Ad-like” clutter tends to lose. 4) Alternative OEM App Stores Are Becoming Discovery Engines OEM advertising isn’t only about setup and lock screens. OEMs also operate their own app stores (e.g., Galaxy Store, GetApps, AppGallery). Industry guides highlight alternative app stores as less crowded environments where users are actively browsing for apps and where advertisers may see different cost and conversion dynamics compared to the main stores. What this means for UA: You need a store strategy beyond Google Play: creative sets optimized for OEM store layouts and merchandising logic, plus the operational readiness to publish/maintain builds where required. (Glance’s OCI notes, for example, that some OEM devices require apps to be hosted on specific OEM stores like GetApps for certain flows.) 5) Measurement Has Matured: OEM Is Now a Real Performance Discipline One reason OEM has become more performance-friendly is that attribution infrastructure has improved dramatically. What this means for UA: OEM can be measured cleanly but only if your SDK setup, partner configuration, and attribution rules are correct (lookback windows, priority, raw-data interpretation). 6) Deep Linking Becomes Mandatory When the Install Gets Easier If the install happens in fewer steps, you have less time to educate the user before first opening. That shifts the burden to post-install routing. What this means for UA: In OEM, deep linking isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s how you keep promise integrity when the user installs without spending time on a store page. How UA Teams Should Adapt in 2026? OEM ads are changing app discovery in one fundamental way: Discovery is becoming device-native; embedded in the OS journey, not just in apps and stores. To win in this new journey, advertisers and UA managers should operationalize OEM as its own discipline: Closing The classic app discovery journey “ad → store page → install” is no longer the only default. OEM ads are building new discovery paths inside the device experience: setup-time recommendations, lock screen install initiation, alternative store merchandising, and frictionless installs supported by deterministic attribution. For performance teams, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility: the upside is real, but success requires OEM-native creative, correct measurement, and post-install journeys that deliver on the promise fast.

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