2022 is behind us… and what a year it was. We emerged from the throws of the pandemic and the world seemed in a better place with global economies and human psyches much improved. As a result of the COVID years our methods of work, communication and entertainment all underwent radical change. The AdTech industry also saw drastic change and evolved alongside other sectors to adapt to the new norms.
What is now clear is that we live in a mobile first world. All entertainment, all communication, and all of the systems we depend on each day are available and consumed on our mobile devices. In fact, the average person – globally - now spends around five hours a day on their smartphones. Overall mobile usage, in particular mobile gaming, has continued to increase: with 32% of US consumers spending 1-5 hours per day playing mobile games, and 23% spending 6-10 hours.
More than 2 billion people will be playing mobile games by 2023, an astounding 25% increase in only two years. Additionally, the global mobile gaming market was worth $135.9 billion in 2021, and this is estimated to reach a staggering $169.7 billion in 2025. While monetization through subscription and in-app purchase continue to be important strategies utilized by game publishers, in-app advertising is now commonplace in almost all apps.
Incredibly we see privacy and COPPA protection of digital minors as a top priority for regulators, platforms, and app developers alike. Kidoz is the leading in-app media provider for COPPA inventory and we welcome the opportunity to be the featured solution for the new privacy requirements. As in-app age gates become commonplace across apps of all genres, the COPPA segment will increase exponentially and Kidoz is the technology that is being adopted and opened to monetize for our partners.
A new year brings new opportunities for development and change. At Kidoz our teams are larger and more skilled than ever before. Our vision is to ensure we deliver the best performance and service on every campaign for every valued client.
We are thrilled to be leading the way in the safe and compliant in-ap mobile ad space and look forward to what the rest of 2023 will bring.