AppLovin Axon for advertisers: how it works, and how to test it

Axon is the AI model that decides which ads AppLovin shows, and to whom, across the apps on its network. Advertisers reach it through AppLovin Ads, AppLovin's self-serve platform.

What AppLovin Axon is

The self-serve platform opened on referral in October 2025 as Axon Ads Manager, and to every business in June 2026 as AppLovin Ads. "Axon remains the name of our AI recommendation system," CEO Adam Foroughi wrote at the June launch.

Most of the ads run through MAX, the mediation platform game developers use to sell their ad space. AppLovin says MAX reaches more than a billion people a day, mostly adults playing casual games such as solitaire, mahjong and crosswords. Its gaming page counts more than 10,000 apps, and more than $11 billion a year in advertiser spend on AppLovin Ads.

AppLovin's revenue was $1.92 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 53% on a year earlier. Games still bring in the majority of it.

Which games it suits

AppLovin has a campaign type for each way a game earns: Ad ROAS for games that earn from ads, IAP ROAS for games that earn from purchases, and Blended ROAS for hybrid games that earn from both.

Ad ROAS and Blended ROAS only run if your game uses MAX for all of its ad mediation. A hybrid game that mediates elsewhere, with AppLovin as one of its networks, can still run IAP ROAS.

AppLovin says the model is not tied to any genre, casual or mid-core. The players it reaches are mostly casual, so a puzzle, word or card game advertises to people who already play games like it.

How to run a first test

  • Set up your MMP first. AppLovin requires tracking through a mobile measurement partner before any campaign runs. For IAP ROAS, send every real purchase as a revenue event, organic players included, and leave out ad revenue, predicted LTV and zero-value purchases.
  • Pick the window by when players pay. ROAS goals run on day 7 or day 28, and AppLovin suggests D28 first if most of a player's value comes late.
  • Budget for 15 to 20 conversions a day. AppLovin publishes no minimum spend. It asks for a daily budget big enough for 15 to 20 of your target events a day, as one global budget across every country you support, with one campaign per platform.
  • Steer spend with the ROAS goal. Base the first goal on what your other channels deliver; AppLovin warns that an unrealistic goal can stop a campaign from spending or scaling. In our campaigns, changing the daily cap rarely moved spend on its own. Moving the goal did, and we moved it about 5% at a time.
  • Wait before you judge. On a D28 goal, a few days of data say little, and spend can run high for a few days after you change the goal or add countries. When one of our campaigns lacked purchase signal, we gave it two to three weeks with more countries and a lower goal before deciding whether to move the budget.
  • Lead with video, then add a playable. Most placements are full-screen, so start with 9:16 videos of up to 60 seconds, and add a playable that shows your core loop. AppLovin tests the combinations inside each creative set and moves spend to the ones that perform best.
  • Judge the cohort at day 7 and day 28 in your MMP, per country and side by side with your other channels.

How to reach AppLovin through SuperScale Media

AppLovin is one of the 36 networks in the SuperScale Media portfolio. Your spend runs through SuperScale's own network agreements — one IO, 35+ networks. Onboarding is a tracking link, not an integration project.

If Axon is on your list to test, put your own numbers into the ROI calculator. It lists every network in the portfolio.

For the other networks by supply type, see our guide to mobile game UA beyond Meta and Google.

Sources

SuperScale

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