Meet Ilya, a webmaster. Back in 2021, he was uploading apps to Google Play, buying a bit of incentivized traffic, and pushing his app cards to the top. Organic installs and money were flowing in. In 2023, he switched to FB, but it didn’t work out. In 2026, he decided to return to ASO. Now Ilya looks at the analytics and wonders: why are there fewer leads, and why isn’t incentivized traffic helping? The answer is simple.
By 2026, ASO is no longer the traffic source it was a couple of years ago. Old methods work only in RuStore at best. App Store and Google Play algorithms have changed, developer accounts matter more, competition among teams has increased, and simple keyword schemes barely work anymore.
Let’s break down what ASO really looks like in 2026 and which verticals still see results from this source (spoiler: it’s not just iGaming).
What is ASO traffic
ASO traffic (from App Store Optimization) is organic traffic coming from the App Store or Google Play via their search engines or recommendations.
Users go to the stores on their smartphones and then:
- type in searches like “slots,” “casino,” “earn money,” and download an app;
- check out algorithm recommendations in “For You,” “Recommended,” scroll through banners, and download games or other apps they like.
When searching for a specific app, the user is already “hot”—they know what they want. When browsing collections, they haven’t decided yet if they’ll download something. You need to catch their attention: with an icon or a description.
The essence of ASO arbitrage is to take an app and make it visible in the stores for users. A simplified workflow:
- Properly fill out the app card: title, subtitle, description with keywords.
- Create an attractive icon and engaging screenshots.
- Drive initial installs for ranking. Usually, these first downloads come from paid traffic.
The ASO arbitrage approach is similar to classic SEO for websites. If you fill the app card with keywords and useful info, Google Play or App Store will show your app at the top of search results. Users will find and download the games or apps they need faster. The download flow will then be free.
An arbitrager should invest heavily once in promotion to get installs that convert to registrations and deposits. Unlike targeted ads and mobile traffic arbitrage, you don’t need to hook the user with creative. The user comes to the store on their own and wants to install the app. Reg-to-Dep in ASO is 2-3 times higher than in FB or TikTok.
Is ASO dead in 2026?
On Reddit and X, people have been declaring ASO dead for over a year now.
Arbitragers complain that incentivized traffic doesn’t work and moderation is getting tougher.
The report showed that the volume of downloads and in-app spending decreased by 10% in the first quarter of 2026, but only in the US. In European and Asian countries, the number of installs and purchases on Google Play and the App Store is growing.
On average, the volume of subscriptions and downloads has increased by 10.6% since 2024. Users have not started downloading apps less or less often. The rules of ASO arbitrage simply changed in 2026:
- Anti-fraud quality has improved. Until 2024, the “stub – high-frequency keywords – incentive” system was in place. Now the anti-fraud system has become stricter, especially at Google. Algorithms quickly detect manipulation. The lifespan of a gambling app in Google Play is a maximum of 2 weeks.
- There is increased demand for user engagement. Stores are now more actively analyzing user behavior inside the app. If a user downloads an app and immediately closes it, the App Store will lower its ranking. If one app gets 10,000 downloads and another gets 4,000, but the first-day engagement is higher for the second, the second app will be ranked higher.
- High-frequency queries have become more expensive. Large companies buy up branded keywords, which is especially noticeable in gambling. Without big budgets, it has become harder to break through on direct queries like “Pin Up” or “Vulkan.” Aggressively increasing keyword density also doesn’t work. It’s better to use various related low-frequency queries and relevant long-tails. Not just “weight loss,” but “weight loss for vacation.”
So, it has become harder for a newcomer without money to work in ASO.
“Developing an iOS app costs around $600. But you have to look at it in terms of the production line you have. For example, the team develops 10-15 apps per month, but only five of them get approved. So the final cost per app comes out to about $1,500-2,000,” — Matvey, co-founder of iRent and PWA.Market on the channel “DIVEROLI about traffic arbitrage.”
But that doesn’t mean the traffic source is dead. You just need to analyze your approaches and plan every step.
“ASO has always been and remains one of the key tools for app promotion. I wouldn’t say it ever ‘declined’. The market just moves in waves: sometimes an app really grabs the audience and takes off, but after a while there’s often a ban or restrictions—and then you’re back in a slump for a month or even longer,” notes Alexander Sobko, CEO of LGaming, in the SIGMA Dubai review on the YouTube channel DIVEROLI about traffic arbitrage.
ASO isn’t dead, but affiliates’ hopes for cheap traffic are.
What changed in ASO arbitrage in 2026
Stores now evaluate not just the number of installs. The App Store and Google Play algorithms have become truly smart and started to think. Just because an app is installed doesn’t mean it will be used. In traffic arbitrage, mobile apps need to be interesting to the user.
One store will leave the app card in the same position. Another might move it up or down by one spot. Google Play and App Store have changed their ranking principles. In many ways, the algorithms are similar: they assess engagement, user interest, and quality. But each store has a different approach to analysis:
- App Store analyzes behavioral patterns within the Apple ecosystem and checks ASA signals;
- In Google Play, search logic and conversion are key.
ASO in App Store: paying audience and strict moderation
In 2025, consumer spending by iOS users exceeded $117 billion.
Apple device owners are considered the most solvent audience. According to a Data.ai report, Apple accounts for only 27% of global installs, but regular app revenue exceeds 65% of total income. iOS traffic is worth paying more for, since “Apple users” show higher LTV.
The App Store optimizes app visibility through Title, Subtitle, and the hidden Keywords block. The hardest part is avoiding keyword duplication. During moderation, Apple combines these fields and considers the entire text as a whole. Repeated keywords don’t give any advantage, and you lose valuable space for useful text.
Visuals come first
Screenshots in the app card are not just a showcase. They’re a way to boost conversion. Users first evaluate visual content. At WWDC 2026 Apple presented a new level of conversion. Now, organic search results can include not only icons and static screenshots, but also dynamic images and short videos. Arbitrageurs can now showcase a new feature or app interface in action. This increases click-through rates.
Good old Product Page Optimization (PPO) will help you test different approaches in short videos.
Boosting with ASA
The March update to Apple Search Ads changed the usual workflow for arbitrageurs and directly impacted ASO. Now, paid ads appear in several positions for a query along with other similar apps. A user enters a keyword, sees the first app, scrolls down, and again sees an ad block with the same app in the third or fifth position.
Organic promotion has become more difficult, and apps are pushed down. Even if you get your app card to the third or fourth position, the user will first see paid ads several times. If the query is high-frequency, the user might not even scroll down to your app.
But changes in paid ad impressions can also be beneficial. If you run ASA for your app, installs will push it higher in the rankings. The ASA + ASO combo works better than each element on its own.
In 2025, Apple announced a new feature — App Store Tag. Now, you can add tags to app pages that match their functionality. For example, “offline access” for a travel guide or “family access” for fitness training. When a user clicks a tag, they see a whole selection of apps with the same feature. This increases app visibility. In 2026, the tag feature is available in the US, Canada, and some European countries.
User Retention
iOS algorithms have become smarter. It’s not enough to just drive installs—you need to retain users. Apple considers retention, reviews, ratings, and app lifetime on the device.
Apple maintains a high standard for promotion quality in 2026. Your app should have:
- a rating of at least 4.5 stars;
- recent positive reviews—the more, the better;
- regular app updates, new features, improvements, and bug fixes;
- proper localization for each geo;
- engaging video previews and screenshots.
Paid subscriptions, deposits, and other money-related actions in apps boost rankings. Apple “sees” that users are engaging and even buying services, which means they like the app.
“In 2026, those who win won’t be the ones who know the algorithm, but those who best understand the user and product economics,” — Anastasia, freelancer, over 10 years in ASO
There is a revealing case in international app traffic arbitrage. Kritnc on Reddit from February to June 2026 brought his app to $1,000 in total subscription revenue. However, he initially spent $5,000 on paid ads, realized there was no return, and the traffic was low quality. He then analyzed the situation, focused on improving the app, enabled paid subscriptions, and finally saw results.
In 2026, App Store algorithms pay closer attention to user behavior patterns. If users don’t like the app, no metadata, keywords, or catchy screenshots will help—ranking will suffer.
ASO in Google Play: mass bans and UAC algorithms
For ASO in Google Play in 2026, SEO promotion is still crucial. Smart algorithms thoroughly check the app page content. The title and descriptions help the store understand which queries to show the app for.
At the Google I/O 2026 conference, an important change was announced. Google Play now uses the Ask Play feature powered by Gemini. Instead of typing a generic query like “VPN,” users can now enter more detailed searches such as “free VPN for Telegram.” For now, the feature is available in the US and a few other countries, but it’s clear it will roll out everywhere soon.
Stricter Moderation
Google’s moderation and anti-fraud systems are improving every year. Automation helps quickly identify violators and block both them and their products. For example, in 2025, more than 1.75 million apps failed moderation.
If your app does get approved, don’t celebrate too soon. Now, Google Play Protect analyzes over 350 billion apps daily. If your app doesn’t meet Google’s security requirements, it’s only a matter of time before it gets banned.
Android Vitals Impacts ASO
Android Vitals is a program to improve app stability. The service can track:
- the number of “App Not Responding” errors;
- crash rate;
- battery consumption during use, etc.
Google analyzes app performance over 28 days. If the quality is lacking, smart algorithms reduce its visibility in Google Play. This means affiliates now have to monitor their app’s performance even more closely. If an app has persistent major issues, it can be removed from search results entirely.
Behavioral Patterns Matter
In 2026, Google Play, like the App Store, focused on user behavior and engagement within apps. There’s no specific data on patterns and their impact on ranking. But if a user installs a game or fitness tracker and immediately deletes it due to bugs, Google will notice and lower the app’s ranking.
User experience is crucial. Reviews help others choose a game or a handy utility. That’s why apps with high ratings and detailed reviews reach the top of search results more often and faster.
New ASO Entry Points in Google Play
At I/O 2026, Google introduced a new feature — Play Shorts. In addition to classic search, users will be able to view app features and highlights in short videos similar to TikTok. From the video, users can go straight to the app page and download it. The feature isn’t available everywhere yet. But Google’s focus on simplicity and visuals is clear. Looks like 30-second VSLs will become part of ASO.
Top Verticals for ASO
In 2026, ASO success is 50% determined by choosing the “right” vertical. An affiliate is like a gold prospector picking the best spots in the stores. Choose the right vertical — and you’ve made your first smart move.
Gambling
Continuing the gold prospector analogy, gambling is the biggest gold mine for ASO, the #1 vertical. The stats may be a bit of a stretch, but in 2025, the “Games” category in the App Store generated over $92 billion. Clearly, people love to play, and some of them love to play for money.
“Right now, it’s pretty tough to launch an app. In terms of traffic volume, apps with designs based on popular slots and crash games perform best. But they’re very hard to launch. By ‘hard,’ I mean you need a design that looks as close to the original slot as possible. Stores have now implemented neural networks that detect patterns of popular slots. There are already tons of them uploaded, so the neural network has a huge reference base. It’s good at spotting clones because it’s been fed a variety of approaches and visual solutions,” — Matvey, co-founder of iRent and PWA.Market on the channel “DIVEROLI about traffic arbitrage.”
Gambling is highly competitive, especially from brands. Without quality cloaking, your app won’t last long. But it’s worth the fight. According to Statista, the average revenue per player is $653.
Dating
Dating apps are popular in every country. People aren’t used to living alone. In 2025, dating app revenue exceeded $6 billion. There are more than 23 million users willing to pay for premium features (one-on-one chats with top users, likes, and more).
Finance
Finance and crypto are also popular ASO verticals. Everyone wants to earn, and if the app is convenient and user-friendly, people will spend money. The main thing is to work on reviews. Comments should be informative and highlight missed opportunities. Cloaking a crypto platform as a chart analyzer is also a good idea due to regulations and store policies.
Nutra
Health and beauty are top priorities for users everywhere. If apps help with that, people won’t hesitate to download and pay for a subscription. Fitness trackers, workout courses for weight loss or just staying healthy will bring steady installs. Especially if you mention a result tied to an event in the description, like losing weight by summer or Christmas, or reducing swelling before tomorrow’s meeting.
Competition in this niche is huge, but most apps in this vertical are pretty white-hat.
AI apps and other utilities
In the first half of 2026, users spent $4.25 billion on subscriptions and plans in ChatGPT and other AI tools.
Neural networks are unavailable in some countries. Developers are quickly monetizing AI tools and limiting free requests. If you build an AI aggregator and promise uninterrupted access, installs will follow.
Tools for bypassing blocks are also valued worldwide. At the same time, users are willing to pay for online anonymity. In the US, the share of paid subscriptions for changing GEO rose to 52%.
Conclusions
ASO stopped being just technical optimization even before 2026. But now it feels sharper than ever. Organic traffic is still well monetized, especially in gambling, dating, and finance. But it’s become harder to guide it to the goal. Those with solid budgets to replace dead apps win. Remember: ASO is a long game. Even if you invest well at the start to get a lot of traffic later, you need to stay alert all the time.
FAQ
ASO traffic is the target audience that finds and downloads apps from store search by keywords, then takes actions: registration, purchase, subscription.
No, ASO isn't dead, but has transformed from a simple action algorithm into a multi-step combination. Now, keywords alone aren't enough to promote an app.
There are optimization differences. But both stores in 2026 have focused on app quality and user engagement.
Incentivized traffic means users are paid for searching by keywords and installing a specific app. A large number of installs pushes the app to the top of the rankings. But you need to use incentive carefully. Stores react negatively to mass installs, especially if the user doesn't search for anything else, downloads, and never opens the app again.
Gambling (betting) is the vertical that brings a large number of installs and deposits. Dating, financial products, and apps for weight loss, beauty, and health are also popular and drive target actions.
Mobile traffic arbitrage is a process where a specialist 'buys' (attracts) smartphone users and directs them to an app download page or to buy supplements, financial products, etc. The cheaper the arbitrager attracts users who buy, deposit, or register, the higher their reward.
Comments (0)