If your user-acquisition plan still leans on the same social and search auctions you ran three years ago, you’re paying more and getting less. Meanwhile, original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) placements—ads baked directly into the Android experience—are turning into a performance goldmine. Here’s why every modern UA stack should plug them in today.
Built-in visibility no banner can match
OEM inventory appears where attention is at its peak: during device onboarding, inside proprietary app stores, in branded folders and widgets, or even as dynamic preloads that install only on target devices. Because these surfaces feel like part of the operating system, engagement dwarfs typical display formats and users don’t perceive the promo as an interruption.
Global reach that rivals traditional stores
More than two billion Android handsets now support some form of OEM ad slot. Flagship owners in North America see tailored offers the moment they power up a new phone, while value-tier models in LATAM, MENA and Southeast Asia deliver cost-efficient scale. Six in ten growth teams already call OEM a core channel, and that share rises every quarter.
Pay less, earn more
Lower competition plus high-intent moments translate into leaner acquisition costs—campaigns routinely land 30 percent below the CPI you’d expect in crowded store searches. Yet cheaper installs are only half the story. Setup-flow opt-ins can exceed 90 percent open-rate on day one, and retention curves for preloaded apps often run three times deeper than cohorts acquired through ad networks. The result: lifetime value jumps while payback windows shrink.
2025 feature upgrades you should note
- Better revenue share: Major Android manufacturers have begun offering 80/20 splits (and even friendlier terms for subscriptions), making their native stores more attractive than Google Play for many publishers.
- Dynamic preload tech: Instead of shipping the same bundle to every unit, apps now install only when the handset specs, price band or region align with your target profile—lifting early engagement by double digits.
- Unified attribution APIs: New device-level signals make post-install event tracking cleaner, easing the move toward event-based bidding.
Fraud resistance baked in
Because impressions and installs originate within the OS, there’s no open exchange for click farms or bots to infiltrate. Clean data means less budget lost to invalid traffic and more reliable LTV modeling—critical as privacy changes keep eroding deterministic user IDs elsewhere.
How Qi Ads simplifies the maze
Every manufacturer and carrier has its own console, rules and creative specs. Qi Ads aggregates Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and others into one dashboard. We plug into your mobile-measurement partner, optimize toward any post-install event you choose—registration, first purchase, subscription—and enforce real-time fraud controls. One contract, one invoice, global scale.
Five-step quick start
- Define the “north-star” event. Pick the in-app action that best predicts long-term value.
- Segment by device tier. Bid up on flagship models if your monetization relies on ARPU, and throttle back on budget phones.
- Localize fast. Tiny tweaks—icon color, store description, headline copy—can shift conversion by 20 percent or more.
- Run a 30-day A/B. Allocate identical spend to OEM and your current top channel, then compare ROAS, not just CPI.
- Retarget smartly. Let OEM handle cheap top-funnel scale, then re-engage high-value users in paid social where creative storytelling excels.
OEM advertising isn’t a shiny side project anymore. It’s the privacy-proof, fraud-resistant engine that lets modern growth teams scale profitably while competitors fight expensive auctions. Add it to your next sprint and watch the numbers move.
