Pixalate’s May 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports: 49,613 Apps Delisted from Google Play Store & 39,131 from Apple App Store

Pixalate research finds 14,602 apps delisted from the United States (U.S.) Google Play Store were ad-enabled (e.g. have an app-ads.txt file), while 3,348 apps delisted from the Apple App Store were ad-enabled

London, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Pixalate, the leading global platform for ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics, today released the May 2025 Delisted Mobile Apps Reports for the United States (U.S.) Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The reports analyze apps delisted in May, including those enabled for programmatic advertising. The reports include a list of the top delisted apps by app store, enabled for programmatic advertising (based on the presence of an app-ads.txt file).

The report identifies applications that are no longer available for download from the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Pixalate’s data. Delisted apps do not indicate who initiated the delisting action, 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 expose advertisers 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 (as indicated by an app-ads.txt file).
Key Findings: Delisted Mobile Apps (May 2025)
Google Play Store

• Delisted apps: 49,613 apps delisted in May 2025, representing a 19% decrease from April 2025
  • 14,602 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising (i.e., had declared an app-ads.txt file) in May 2025
• Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (1,882) in the Google Play Store, followed by South Korea (929) in May 2025
  • Among the apps that provided a country of registration, 3,842 were registered in Asia-Pacific (APAC), which is the highest among global regions, followed by 2,812 in EMEA, 2,062 in North America, and 735 in LATAM, according to Pixalate
    

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

Apple App Store

• Delisted apps: 39,131 apps delisted in May 2025, down 11% from April 2025
  • 3,348 apps delisted were enabled for programmatic advertising in May 2025
• Country of origin: United States-registered apps had the highest number of delistings (1,389) in the Apple App Store, followed by China (494) and South Korea (360) in May 2025
  • Among the apps that provided a country of registration, 1,755 were registered in APAC, which is the highest among global regions, followed by 1,502 in North America, 1,272 in EMEA, and 166 in LATAM, according to Pixalate
    

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

To compile this research, Pixalate’s data science and analyst team analyzed over 2 million apps delisted from the United States Apple App Store and over 5.6 million apps delisted from the United States Google Play Store between January 2021 and May 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 May 2025 US Google Play Store & US 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.

Nina Talcott
ntalcott@pixalate.com

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