Top 20 Global Mobile Apps in November: ShortMax Leads Advertising as ChatGPT Gains Revenue

SocialPeta analyzed the top 20 global mobile apps by advertising, revenue, and downloads in November 2024 to help mobile app developers, publishers, and marketers understand changes in the global mobile market.

Three developments stood out across the November rankings:

• ShortMax strengthened its lead in short-drama advertising. Two heavily promoted drama titles helped the platform maintain strong campaign momentum.
• Trip.com increased advertising ahead of the year-end travel season. Its deduplicated creative volume exceeded 180,000 during the month.
• Bluesky recorded explosive download growth. The social app more than doubled its App Store downloads month-over-month and entered the Top 20.

The continued growth of short-drama apps reshaped the advertising rankings in November, with short-drama and online-literature products occupying many of the leading positions. Several products from other categories also stood out.

Trip.com saw a sharp increase in campaign activity, moving into second place on iOS. Short-video apps also remained visible in the Android ranking, with TikTok at No. 11 and Kwai at No. 19.

At the top of the charts, ShortMax ranked first on iOS while Temu ranked first on Android. Both continued to run large-scale global user-acquisition campaigns.

Jiuzhou Culture's ShortMax remained one of the most active short-drama advertisers in November. Among the 50 short dramas with the highest advertising volume during the month, 13 were distributed through ShortMax.

According to SocialPeta's November campaign data, ShortMax:

• Ran more than 308,000 deduplicated ad creatives across iOS and Android.
• Recorded a new-creative share of approximately 89.0%.
• Used just over 500 image creatives, meaning the overwhelming majority of its advertising materials were video creatives.
• Advertised across 76 countries and regions, with the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and France among its leading markets.

Two dramas were particularly important to ShortMax's November performance. The Japanese short drama 大富豪のバツイチ孫娘 had already topped SocialPeta's weekly advertising rankings in October and maintained significant campaign volume into November.

Meanwhile, The Rejected Luna Returns with a Son became the monthly advertising leader in November, generating more than 15,000 deduplicated ad creatives.

Trip.com significantly increased its advertising activity in November, likely in preparation for December travel demand around Christmas and New Year.

According to SocialPeta's November data:

• Trip.com ran more than 187,000 deduplicated ad creatives across iOS and Android.
• Approximately 78.6% were newly launched creatives.
• Campaigns covered 76 countries and regions.
• Hong Kong accounted for the largest campaign share, at around 10.41%.
• More than half of Trip.com's creatives were image-based, with bold copy frequently used to communicate brand authority, transportation options, hotel bookings, and promotional deals.

In its ad copy, the most frequent themes centered on travel, transportation, bookings, pricing, hotels, and promotional discounts. In addition to the brand term "Trip," "Flight" was one of the most frequently appearing English keywords.

Kwai returned to the rankings after a long absence. The app began advertising in March 2018, primarily on Android, and had accumulated more than 580,000 deduplicated creatives by the time of this November analysis.

SocialPeta's November campaign data showed:

• More than 22,000 deduplicated ad creatives were active across iOS and Android during November.
• Most creatives were video-based, while the smaller number of image creatives mainly promoted Kwai Shop and used styles similar to e-commerce advertising.
• Brazil, Portugal, and Singapore were key markets during the month. The original SocialPeta analysis reported especially high campaign coverage in Brazil.
• Recent high-performing Kwai creatives were largely based on live-action comedy sketches, suggesting that localized, personality-driven humor remained effective for engagement.

App Store Revenue Highlights

Revenue among many major products declined slightly in November. ChatGPT, however, moved against the broader trend and recorded approximately 4.6% month-over-month revenue growth on the App Store.

Several apps outside the Top 20 also recorded notable revenue increases:

• X increased revenue by approximately 22.1% in November.
• iQIYI recorded approximately 54.5% month-over-month revenue growth. Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States each contributed more than $700,000 in revenue according to the original analysis.
• NetShort saw revenue increase approximately 221.8% month-over-month.

Google Play Revenue Highlights

As the Christmas shopping period approached, Amazon Shopping benefited from stronger seasonal demand. According to SocialPeta, its Google Play revenue increased by approximately $1.5 million compared with the previous month.

App Store Download Highlights

Netflix continued to develop its mobile gaming strategy, helping the streaming platform maintain download momentum. In November, Netflix's App Store downloads increased by approximately 13.7% month-over-month.

The original article also highlighted the upcoming December release of Monument Valley 3 through Netflix as a potential driver of continued growth.

Bluesky delivered one of the most significant download increases of the month. App Store downloads rose approximately 221.4%, allowing the app to reach No. 19 in the November rankings.

Google Play Download Highlights

The original SocialPeta analysis noted changes affecting some live-streaming apps on Google Play, which coincided with stronger download growth for other social products. Facebook recorded the largest increase among the apps highlighted, rising approximately 38.7%.

Google's Gemini app also maintained strong momentum. Downloads increased by approximately 33.1% in November, allowing Gemini to move ahead of Meesho and reach No. 16 on the Google Play ranking.

1. Short-drama apps were becoming major global advertisers. ShortMax's campaign scale and high share of newly launched creatives demonstrate how aggressively the category was expanding internationally in late 2024.
2. Seasonal demand influenced both travel and e-commerce advertising. Trip.com increased campaign activity ahead of Christmas and New Year, while Amazon Shopping benefited from stronger holiday shopping demand.
3. AI apps were gaining ground in both monetization and acquisition. ChatGPT recorded App Store revenue growth while Gemini continued climbing the Google Play download rankings.
4. New social platforms could still generate rapid organic momentum. Bluesky's 221.4% month-over-month App Store download increase made it one of November's most notable breakout products.

November 2024 showed how quickly the non-game app market was diversifying. Short drama, generative AI, travel, social media, and e-commerce products all competed for user attention through different combinations of paid advertising, product momentum, seasonal demand, and content strategy.

For app marketers, comparing advertising activity with revenue and download performance can provide a more complete view of how acquisition strategy translates into market growth.