Cost-per-acquisition of search results ads
Cost-per-acquisition in Apple Ads reflects how much you pay per single download. This metric helps app marketers understand the average cost of converting a tap into an install.
- CPA patterns often move in the same direction as CPT, since both are shaped by auction dynamics, keyword mix, and seasonality. In 2024, the yearly average CPA came in at $2.76, slightly above $2.72 in 2023, which supported the view of a market that was largely steady year over year.
- In 2025, the yearly average CPA decreased to $2.51, indicating a lower overall acquisition cost compared to 2024.
- While 2024 stayed relatively stable across quarters, it still ended with a clear year-end lift, moving from $2.79 in Q1 to a Q4 peak of $2.91.
- 2025 followed a different shape. CPA started at a lower baseline in the first half ($2.12 in Q1 and $2.11 in Q2), then increased in Q3 ($2.53) and reached its highest point in Q4 ($3.28). This split suggests that acquisition costs were meaningfully more competitive toward year-end.
- Looking at the broader timeline, CPA has stayed within a fairly consistent band since 2022. After the higher 2021 average ($3.03), yearly averages of $2.85 (2022), $2.72 (2023), $2.76 (2024), and $2.51 (2025) reinforce a market where pricing is generally predictable at the annual level, with quarter-level fluctuations still playing an important role.
- Looking across categories, average CPA rose from $2.58 in 2024 to $3.06 in 2025 (roughly +19%), signaling higher cost pressure to convert taps into downloads in search results ads.
- Sports stayed the highest-CPA category and jumped from $7.75 in 2024 to $14.35 in 2025. The increase aligns with the CPT spike, so efficiency here is usually won through stricter search term management, isolating the best converting exact-match terms, and enforcing CPA-oriented bid ceilings per campaign.
- Games also saw a major CPA increase (from $3.48 in 2024 to $6.14 in 2025). When both CPT rises and conversion softens, the fastest path back to efficiency tends to be tighter intent segmentation and sharper creative alignment by theme (different value props per ad group, each mapped to a relevant custom product pages).
- Finance improved slightly on CPA (from $5.55 in 2024 to $5.09 in 2025) while staying high overall. That combination often supports a “scale selectively” approach: expand where conversion holds, but keep strict guardrails on generic discovery that can inflate taps without matching download intent.
- Photo & Video became the lowest-CPA category in 2025 at $1.03 (down from $1.62 in 2024). Even with a weaker conversion, very low CPT can carry efficiency. This is a great spot to push for incremental gains by improving post-tap relevance (custom product pages variants by use case, clearer screenshot sequencing) to convert more of that inexpensive traffic.
- Shopping improved from $1.74 in 2024 to $1.20 in 2025 and Social Networking improved from $1.86 in 2024 to $1.29 in 2025, making both categories look more cost-efficient for acquisition. These categories are often well-suited to broader keyword coverage, as long as you maintain strong negatives to avoid irrelevant queries.
- Food & Drink moved in the opposite direction, from $1.06 in 2024 to $2.19 in 2025. This suggests that efficiency now depends more on high-intent query clusters (for example, delivery vs dine-in vs specific cuisine intent) and on tightening match types so you are not paying CPA on loosely related searches.
- Productivity’s CPA increased from $1.49 in 2024 to $2.84 in 2025, which fits a pattern of rising competition for subscription-led utility apps. In this category, separating competitor campaigns, feature-led themes, and “problem/solution” keywords can help keep CPA stable as the auction gets tougher.
- Remember the mechanic: CPA is driven by both CPT and CR. Categories with improving CPT can still show higher CPA if conversion declines, so the winning strategy is not only bid control, but also post-tap experience, especially custom product pages mapping and message match.
The data in this report has been gathered using MobileAction and SearchAds.com tools.*
“2025 shows a clear split in acquisition costs. CPA averaged $2.12 in Q1 and $2.11 in Q2, then rose to $2.53 in Q3 and peaked at $3.28 in Q4. The first half created more room to scale efficiently, while the second half required tighter control as auction pressure increased.”
Bora Sipahi
Head of Marketing @MobileAction
