Which converts better, Apple Ads or Google App Campaigns?

For high-intent capture, Apple Ads: a user searching the App Store is minutes from installing something, and the US median cost per install runs around $4.06 against a median cost per tap near $1.91. For volume and discovery, Google App Campaigns win on reach across Play, YouTube, and Search. Most accounts need both, doing different jobs.

What changes with Apple's multi-slot rollout in 2026?

From March 3, 2026, App Store search results carry multiple ad slots instead of one, starting in the UK and reaching all markets by the end of that month. More inventory usually means cheaper average taps but also new positions with weaker intent, so expect benchmark churn for a quarter and re-read your placement reports before trusting old CPT assumptions.

Do Google App Campaigns work on iOS now?

Better than their reputation says. Target-ROAS bidding for iOS App campaigns is now available globally, and modeled conversions have matured since the ATT shock years. The constraint remains measurement granularity: you'll manage iOS App campaigns on SKAdNetwork-shaped data, so a deliberate conversion-value schema matters more than any bid setting.

Apple Ads vs Google App Campaigns in 2026

First, names: Apple rebranded Apple Search Ads to plainApple Ads on April 14, 2025, a signal that the machine now sells more than search. And the two platforms aren't rivals so much as different organs: Apple Ads captures intent that already exists inside the App Store, while Google App Campaigns manufacture reach across Play, Search, YouTube, and Discover. The AppsFlyer Performance Index has them splitting the crown accordingly, Google first on Android and Apple Ads first on iOS gaming. The budget question is never either/or; it's what ratio, and when each machine earns more of it.

What each machine actually is

	Apple Ads	Google App Campaigns
Buys	Cost per tap (CPT), auction	tCPI / tCPA / tROAS, automated
Where	App Store: search results, Search tab, Today tab, product pages	Play, Google Search, YouTube, Discover, AdMob network
Intent	High: user is already shopping for an app	Mixed: from searching to interrupted
Control	Keyword-level, granular	Asset-level; the algorithm assembles
Benchmarks	~$2.50 avg CPT (up from $1.59 in 2023); US median CPT $1.91, median CPI $4.06	Varies by genre/geo; judge against your category's CPI band

Where Apple Ads earns budget

Brand defense first: your own name's search results are cheap to hold and expensive to lose, especially once competitors can occupy multiple slots. Category keywords second, where the tap is pricey but the intent is minutes from installing. Product-page placements third, a quieter surface that intercepts users browsing competitors. Costs have risen, the average tap runs around $2.50 now, so the platform rewards apps with strong store pages: your conversion rate from tap to install is a lever you own entirely, and it discounts every tap.

Where Google App Campaigns earn budget

Scale, Android, and creative appetite. App Campaigns remain the widest reach instrument in mobile, and the 2025 upgrades sharpened the iOS side: tROAS bidding went global for iOS App campaigns, Web-to-App Connect extended into YouTube and Demand Gen surfaces, and the creative machinery gained AI image enhancements. The trade is control: you feed assets and goals, the algorithm assembles ads, and your influence runs through the quality and variety of what you feed it. Accounts with a living creative bench get visibly better results from the same settings, which is not a coincidence we're neutral about.

The 2026 wrinkle: multiple search slots

From March 3, 2026, App Store search results carry more than one ad, rolling out from the UK to all markets within the month. Expect three effects: average CPTs soften as inventory grows, positional performance splits (slot two's intent won't match slot one's), and brand-term defense gets pricier for contested names. Re-benchmark everything in April; the pre-2026 CPT lore is already aging.

How we split budgets in practice

A useful default for a consumer app spending five figures monthly: hold brand and top category terms on Apple Ads permanently, give Google App Campaigns the scale mandate on Android from day one, and let iOS App campaigns earn spend as their SKAdNetwork reads stabilize. Then rebalance quarterly on cost per retained user, not CPI, since the two machines recruit different tempers of user. Or bring the account to acampaign-mode working session and we'll argue your specific ratio with your cohort data on the table.