As CPIs climb, auctions tighten, and performance signals blur across major channels, many app marketers are turning to OEM advertising to diversify risk. On-device inventory preloads, setup flows (OOBE), OEM app store placements, native system surfaces, lock-screen experiences; provides earlier, higher-intent touchpoints. Tools like OEMAD, Digital Turbine, Unity Aura, Moloco↔Xiaomi, Huawei’s Petal Ads, Glance, AVOW, and Appnext are making OEM traffic easier to buy, measure, and scale in 2025-26. Why OEM Advertising Offers a Real Hedge OEM sources reach users at natural, high-engagement moments: setting up a new device, browsing built-in app stores, or interacting with system surfaces. Because the user is already “closer” to installing or opening an app, the path from impression → install → first open tends to be shorter and cleaner, often improving early retention compared to generic feed-based display. OEMAD reports that all their traffic comes from real device environments across Xiaomi, Transsion, Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, and Samsung. Their machine-learning platform optimizes in real time for in-app events, ensuring advertisers aren’t just paying for installs but for quality engagement.  Supply is growing. Digital Turbine’s latest calculations show “On-Device Solutions” (preloads, setup discovery) as a major growth vertical. Unity Aura claims integration on over 2 billion devices. Moloco’s deal with Xiaomi actively opens up store-adjacent and lock-screen supply. OEMAD provides “one window” to access a broad set of OEM sources with event-based optimization. These trends together make OEM channels a credible hedge to saturation elsewhere. Spotlight on OEMAD: What Differentiates Them OEMAD is a specialized aggregator for OEM traffic. Key features that make them worth considering: Because of these, OEMAD can act both as a “first contact” solution like OEM store discovery, and as part of a performance mix where quality (retention, post-install events) matters, not just raw install volume. How to Mix OEMAD & Other Aggregators into a UA Strategy Here are tactical suggestions for using OEMAD alongside other OEM supply aggregators to hedge saturation: 1) Define value KPIs beyond CPI. Use KPIs like CPE (cost per engaged open), CPO (key in-app action), or D7 ROAS. OEMAD supports optimizing toward these event-based goals; similarly check that Digital Turbine, Unity Aura, etc., can feed post-install and engagement events. This helps avoid buying cheap installs that drop off. 2) Deploy multi-line campaigns. For each target geography, run parallel lines: Compare performance for each line (install, retention, payback) to see which works best per geo and vertical. 3) Monitor supply & price pressure. As OEM traffic becomes more popular, expect inventory in premium OEM placements or exclusives (OEMAD.UNIQUE etc.) to experience rising cost. That’s exactly why OEMAD’s real-time ML optimization helps maintain ROAS when costs move. Also keep an eye on CPMs/OCPMs across OEM vs feed channels to see where saturation starts impacting margins. 4) Measurement & transparency. 5) Creative & UX alignment. Creative that works in OEM contexts tends to be simpler, more trust-driven, outcome-oriented. For example, use native-style layouts, match store or system themes, deep-link to the promised “task” (registration, trial, purchase). OEMAD’s creatives often benefit from matching the OEM’s visual standards, users trust system surfaces more. Also consider localizing store metadata, screenshots, etc., especially for OEM stores or browse surfaces. Risks & Things to Watch OEM advertising is more than just a fallback; it’s a powerful hedge when traditional UA channels saturate. Aggregators like OEMAD bring real value, simplified operations, ML-powered optimization, source transparency, and scale across OEM ecosystems. When combined thoughtfully with other OEM supply sources (Digital Turbine, Unity Aura, Glance, etc.), OEM traffic can deliver shorter payback, higher retention, and improved margins. If your 2025 strategy leans heavily on social/search/display, adding OEM lines via OEMAD and peers isn’t optional, it’s essential for resilience and growth.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) has made the Android “choice screen” a standard part of device setup across the European Economic Area. In practice, this means new Android phones and tablets distributed in the EEA must display search and (in most cases) browser choice screens during onboarding, forcing a user to actively pick their defaults. Google confirms that OEMs are required to incorporate the DMA choice-screen software into all new device releases in the EEA as of March 6, 2024; Pixels received it via update, with ongoing rollout across OEMs. What exactly changed Why this matters for UA (beyond compliance) A practical playbook for Q4 2025 The DMA choice screen isn’t just a legal checkbox it reshapes first-touch distribution on Android in the EEA. Treat “choice-originated” users as a separate storefront in your UA plan: tag them, benchmark them, and bid to intercept them with OEM and on-device media close to setup. Teams that adapt their measurement and OEM mix now will capture the most predictable CAC and faster payback from Europe’s next Android cohorts.

For years, mobile measurement partners (MMPs) lumped most paid traffic into a handful of giants and “other.” In 2025 that’s no longer accurate. OEM (on-device) channels preloads, setup-flow placements, OEM app stores, and lock-screen surfaces, now appear in MMP benchmarks and indices as their own, trackable sources, effectively operating like a separate storefront in your acquisition mix.  What changed? Why “separate storefront” status matters for UA A practical framework to use OEM benchmarks like a storefront 1) Instrument the taxonomy.Create a distinct “OEM” source group in your MMP and sub-label by surface (Preload/Setup Wizard, OEM Store, Lock-Screen). Ensure post-install events map to early value (trial start, add-to-cart, level-3) so your OEM CPI → tROAS view is comparable with in-app networks. (AppsFlyer’s index and benchmarks pages show how sources are compared by outcome quality, not just volume). 2) Build an OEM vs. In-App scorecard.For each geo/OS, track CPI, IPM, D1/D7 retention, CPT (cost per trial), and 30-day payback. Expect OEM to deliver earlier, cheaper first opens in Android-heavy markets, while in-app networks may win on deep value in premium iOS geos. Use MMP cohort exports to visualize value-density D0–D7 by source. Industry guides in 2025 explicitly frame OEM as a cost-controlled, fraud-resistant lever; test that claim against your own metrics.  3) Run incrementality by path.Structure tests per OEM path: (a) Preload, (b) OEM store featuring, (c) Lock-screen units. Hold out geo-slices or device SKUs to estimate net new users vs. cannibalization of in-app campaigns. Practitioner advice this summer: benchmark OEM reach and engagement against Google/Meta to win internal buy-in.  4) Standardize vendor checks.Adopt a lightweight RFP for OEM partners: reporting transparency, unique device coverage, brand safety, and MMP compatibility (AppsFlyer/Adjust/Singular). The presence of OEMs in Performance/ROI indices simplifies this step use rankings as a short-list signal, then validate on your data.  What good looks like (targets to start with) In 2025, OEMs aren’t “alternative” anymore. MMP benchmarks and indices now surface OEM as a first-class media source, giving UA teams the same clarity on CPI, quality, and ROAS that they expect from in-app networks. Treat it as a separate storefront in your plan instrument the taxonomy, run path-level incrementality, and budget against OEM-specific ROAS. That’s how you convert on-device reach into predictable growth.