SensorTowerTikTok Continues Its Climb With 75 Million New Users in December, Up 275% From 2017
Summary
TikTok, the short-form video app from ByteDance, achieved its best month ever for first-time installs in December 2018, adding 75 million new users worldwide across the App Store and Google Play, a 275% increase from 20 million in December 2017. India played a pivotal role, accounting for 27% of new installs between December 2017 and December 2018, with downloads soaring nearly 25x from 1.3 million to 32.3 million. The app's in-app purchase revenue, primarily from tipping live streamers, also grew significantly, reaching $6 million in December 2018, up 253% from $1.7 million a year ago.
TikTok ranked third for new installs among all apps in December 2018 and was the fourth most downloaded app for the entire year.
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TikTokTikTok Advertising Blog: Find Product Updates, Insights & Tips
This TikTok for Business landing page promotes a limited-period new-advertiser incentive program offering up to USD 6,000 in matched ad credits. Three self-serve tiers are presented: 50% off first 30-day spend (up to $200), dollar-for-dollar match up to $500, and match up to $6,000. A separate headline offer advertises Spend $100/Get $100, Spend $500/Get $500, and Spend $1,500/Get $1,500 plus 1-to-1 expert onboarding support. Registration requires email or phone sign-up with 2-step verification. Eligibility is restricted to new SMB self-serve accounts, excluding agency, Business Center, and TikTok Shop accounts; credits post within 7 days of hitting the highest threshold or after the 30-day window.
TikTokTikTok Advertising Blog: Find Product Updates, Insights & Tips
TikTok for Business is promoting tiered first-30-day ad credit incentives for new self-serve SMB advertisers: spend $100 get $100, $500 get $500, or $1,500 get $1,500 plus 1-to-1 expert onboarding support, with a headline entry offer of 50% off first-month spend up to $200 and matching credits up to $6,000. Credits are applied within 7 days of hitting the highest threshold or after the 30-day accumulation window. Eligibility excludes agency, Business Center, and TikTok Shop accounts, and limits one ad account per new TikTok For Business account. For ad ops teams, these terms dictate budget pacing, account structure, and credit-expiry planning.
TikTokMost businesses underestimate how ready they are for TikTok | TikTok For Business Blog
TikTok's UK/Europe scale (30M+ UK, 200M+ EU) and content graph make category objections obsolete. For ad ops, success comes from relevance, not trends: proof-led demos, explainers, reviews, and problem-solving content can reach high-intent audiences without a large follower base. Case studies show material performance: Toyota CPA -38%, BCP 10x registrations, Randstad 2.81% CTR/17M impressions, Prep Kitchen +44% conversion and +374% orders with Smart+, PureGym CPA -77%, HydroClean cost per conversation -74%. Action: test utility/creator content, use Smart+ for scaled creative testing, layer TopView on trusted content, and target niche communities rather than broad reach.
SensorTowerGlobal App Revenue Grew 23% in 2018 to More Than $71 Billion on iOS and Google Play
In 2018, global mobile app revenue hit $71.3B, up 22.7% from 2017. App Store led with $46.6B, Google Play $24.8B. Gaming accounted for $54.7B. First-time installs exceeded 105.3B.
TikTokMost businesses underestimate how ready they are for TikTok | TikTok For Business Blog
TikTok's Lorenzo Bierhuys argues that equating performance marketing with bottom-of-funnel capture is outdated; performance should instead mean data-driven, measurable marketing applied across the entire journey. TikTok frames discovery as the start of an infinite purchase loop, citing that 61% of users purchase after seeing an ad, 83% after using TikTok for inspiration, and 41% after a 'where to buy' search. Case evidence backs the full-funnel case: Mejuri +11% ROAS with 88% more efficient CPA, Tatti Lashes 13x ROAS, Conforama 239% CTR lift, and Ooh & Aah Cookies 8.81 total ROAS. Takeaway for ad ops: plan around intent signals first, then select capture routes — TikTok Shop, Pixel, App Events API, or Lead Generation ads.
AppsFlyerCreative optimization: Why your best video ad fails as a static image
AppsFlyer’s 2026 creative data shows video and static image ads reward opposite creative qualities, so ad ops teams should plan, budget, and test them separately. Video spend is concentrating: gaming’s top 2% of video creatives captured 60.7% of spend, up from 53.5%, while image spend spread out. Top spenders are testing far more variations, widening the testing gap. Action/Strategy and Puzzle/Lifestyle show format-specific tone and social-proof reversals; Finance is the exception. Teams should use AI-assisted variation, analyze video winners deeply, keep broad image testing, and measure performance at attribute level.
SensorTowerTikTok Surpasses One Billion Installs on the App Store and Google Play
TikTok from ByteDance has surpassed 1 billion installs globally, with 663 million in 2018. It is the 4th most downloaded non-game app, with 71.3 million new users in January 2019, 161% more than last year.
TikTokYour customer saw it on TikTok. Your dashboard didn’t | TikTok For Business Blog
TikTok’s article argues last-click attribution creates a major measurement blind spot for ad ops. Because customer journeys loop across days, devices, and platforms, dashboards often credit only the final click and miss TikTok’s demand-creation role. Key data: 79% of TikTok-driven purchases are unattributed, 73% of click attribution undervalues TikTok conversions, and 50%+ undervalues ROI. TikTok users are also 30% more likely to convert and spend 20% more. The takeaway: short-term reporting can misallocate budget away from demand generation. Agencies should adopt measurement that captures full-funnel impact and not rely on pixel attribution alone.
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