Pixalate’s February 2025 Global Delisted Mobile Apps Reports Find 96,997 Apps Delisted from Google Play Store & 49,741 from Apple App Store

Pixalate research finds 26k apps delisted from the Google Play Store and 4k apps delisted from the Apple App Store were enabled for programmatic advertising (e.g., an app-ads.txt file)

London, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pixalate, the global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the February 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The reports analyze apps delisted in February, including those enabled for programmatic advertising. The reports include a list of the top delisted apps by store with programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an app-ads.txt file).

The report identifies applications that are no longer downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Pixalate’s data. Delisted apps do not indicate who the initiator of the delisting action was, i.e., Apple, Google, or the app developer.

While some apps are delisted for benign reasons, others are removed due to more nefarious behaviors, including ad fraud and non-compliance with privacy regulations or app store policies, which may cause advertisers to be exposed to potential financial or legal risks. Because apps can be delisted for various reasons, Pixalate neither asserts nor assigns a reason for any delisting action. Additionally, it is generally not publicly available information as to who the initiator of the delisting is, so it is often not possible to know whether the app store or the developer triggered the removal.

Pixalate’s research focuses on app profile information. It provides various insights observed in the programmatic advertising bid stream, such as the developer’s country of registry, the level of app abandonment, and the number of delisted apps with advertising (an app-ads.txt file).

Key Findings: Delisted Mobile Apps (February 2025)

Google Play Store

• Delisted apps: 97K apps delisted in February 2025, up 18% from January 2025
  • 26k apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., had declared an app-ads.txt file) in February 2025
• Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (3,491) in the Google Play Store, followed by India (2,458) in February 2025
  • 69% of apps delisted from the Google Play Store in February 2025 had no listed country of registration
  • Of apps that did have a country of registration, 7,358 were registered in Asia-Pacific (APAC), which is the highest among global regions, 6,688 in EMEA, 3,804 in North America, and 950 in LATAM, according to Pixalate

Google Play Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in February 2025 (by downloads)

Apple App Store

• Delisted apps: 50k apps delisted in February 2025, up 110% from January 2025
  • 4,067 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., an app-ads.txt file) in February 2025
• Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (1,616) in the Apple App Store, followed by China (627) and the UK (318) in February 2025
  • 83% of apps delisted from the Apple App Store in February 2025 had no listed country of registration
  • Of apps that did have a country of registration, 1,920 were registered in APAC, which is the highest among global regions, 1,885 in EMEA, 1,728 in North America, and 216 in LATAM, according to Pixalate

Apple App Store: Top 5 Delisted Apps in February 2025 (by downloads)

To compile this research, Pixalate’s data science and analyst team analyzed more than 1.9 million apps delisted from the Apple App Store and 5.6 million apps delisted from the Google Play Store between January 2021 and February 2025.

Download the complete reports here:

• Google Play Store
• Apple App Store

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Google Play Store & Apple App Store Delisted Mobile Apps Reports (the ‘Reports’), reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied.

CONTACT: Nina Talcott
ntalcott@pixalate.com

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