How Successfully Promote the Android-utility and Gain 1.5M Installs

Today we will share a case study on promoting the Android utility XPlay, for which the Kadam team took over the full management cycle: from setting up ad campaigns and developing high-converting landing pages to optimization and scaling. This material will be useful for Android utility owners who face the challenges of unstable CPI campaigns, daily manual optimization, and constant bid recalculations.

Spoiler: this is one of our most successful cases. But before we move on to the numbers, let’s look at why the Android utilities and private browsers market is on the rise again.

Why the Android Utilities Market is Growing Again

More and more users are thinking about digital privacy and looking for alternatives to Chrome. This opens up strong potential for promoting Android browsers as utilities. The interest goes beyond curiosity, the audience actively downloads private browsers and starts using them.

At the same time, utilities under CPA in recent years have given way to iGaming and e-commerce and are no longer so common in the market. However, the demand for private browsers continues to grow, and with it, the opportunity for advertisers to profit in this niche.

We demonstrate this with a market analysis:

Growth examples:

Brave Browser – already over 91M installs by mid-2025;
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser – 50M+ installs and 2.3M reviews on Google Play;
Safe Proxy Browser – 100M+ installs, with 8M in Brazil in just one month.

Demand geography:

Europe and North America
In mature markets, privacy and data protection are becoming key browser selection factors.
- Europe: according to Brave, the share of users reaches about 5% of the market.
- North America: the market share is estimated at about 3%.
Emerging markets (Tier 2–3)
In countries with restricted access to information and high mobile internet costs, private browsers with proxy/VPN support are in high demand. India, Indonesia, and Brazil consistently rank among the top in downloads. Web Proxy Browser shows steady install growth in these regions.

Thus, demand covers both mature and emerging markets, creating excellent conditions for scaling. In this context, we launched the XPlay offer campaign as an example of successful Android utility promotion.

What Offer Powered Our Scaling Strategy

How Successfully Promote the Android-utility and Gain 1.5M Installs - Kadam Blog

XPlay is a secure proxy browser with a built-in VPN. It is fast, reliable, and allows users to:

bypass website blocks,
stay anonymous,
protect data when connecting to public Wi-Fi.

We launched this offer together with OfferGate: clarified budgets and campaign expectations, then provided full management — took everything over and switched from CPI to RevShare.

Why CPI Doesn’t Deliver Stable Results for Android Utilities

The CPI (Cost Per Install) model is considered the standard for promoting Android apps, but in practice, it doesn’t deliver stable results. Let’s see why.

Different Traffic Quality. The CPI model assumes a fixed payment for each mobile app install, regardless of the user’s subsequent behavior. But not every download brings value:

one user may actively use the utility and generate revenue,
another may uninstall the app immediately after installation.

This is especially common when buying cheap traffic from low-quality sources: low bids attract placements with high misclick levels.

📢 “CPI ignores the user lifecycle, and that’s the main problem. As a result, in the worst cases, up to 70% of the advertising budget goes to audiences who won’t even open the app a second time.” – Alexey Kitsak, Head of Optimizers at Kadam.

Constant Manual Optimization. The auctions where mobile traffic is bought are subject to constant bid fluctuations. User behavior is also unstable and depends on many external factors (time of day, country, device, OS).

To at least maintain zero profitability, the utility owner is forced to:

review bids daily,
disable sources,
keep a team of analysts for monitoring.

At large volumes, the CPI model turns from a convenient tool into monotonous manual work. This prevents scaling and makes utility promotion inefficient and resource-intensive.

RevShare vs CPI: How the Economics of Utility Promotion Change

Switching from CPI to RevShare opens up a more sustainable economy for promoting utilities.
Instead of paying a fixed cost per install, the advertiser shares part of the monetization revenue. This reduces startup risks and makes traffic buying more flexible.

Why RevShare beats CPI:

No overpayment for low-quality installs
Payment only for real revenue

But most importantly, we handle all campaign optimization ourselves.

What Kadam’s Full-Management Approach Delivers

Real-time auto-optimization
We use our own internal optimization tools that let us manage traffic as efficiently as possible.
Our Auto-rules:

disable ineffective placements,
boost strong sources,
adjust bids by OS, devices, browsers, and other targets in real time.

Such a level of fine-tuning is impossible manually. Only automation allows instant reactions to changes and quick budget redistribution toward effective sources.

Hypotheses and behavioral analytics
We have a dedicated team of optimizers who manage the entire traffic cycle from analytics to scaling. They dive deep into the process with expertise and constant monitoring:

Source analysis – evaluating sources, placements, and publishers for stability, engagement, and traffic quality, while selecting optimal bids.
Hypothesis testing – studying ROI, EPC, and CR by country and device, forming hypotheses and running tests to improve efficiency.
Behavioral analysis – tracking user behavior after install to buy only valuable traffic.
Budget management – automating and quickly adjusting bids, scaling successful bundles in real time.

High-converting creatives and landing pages
In promoting the Android utility XPlay, we jointly with Offergate developed and tested dozens of creatives and landing pages. One landing page delivered a +41% CR increase – several times higher than the average A/B test result, where even +5–10% is considered excellent.

At Kadam we are ready to fully handle this part. Within the full-management package, our specialists create landing pages and creatives tailored to any requirements, ensuring high CR and stable results in Android utility promotion

Why Popunder and 18+ Audience Became the Growth Driver for XPlay

For large-scale promotion of the Android utility XPlay, Kadam’s optimizers applied a comprehensive and deeply segmented approach. We expanded GEO coverage, detailed targeting by device types, Android versions, browser languages, and other parameters. This accuracy allowed us to effectively adapt ad campaigns to user behavior patterns in each region.

Key campaign parameters:

Top GEOs: India, Pakistan, Indonesia, USA, Brazil + Global reach
Payment model: RevShare
Format: Popunder
Operating systems: Android 11, 12, 13, 14+
Devices: smartphones, phablets, tablets
Browser languages: Indonesian, English, Portuguese, etc.
Connection types: Wi-Fi, 3G, LTE

Why popunder + 18+ traffic drives high CR for utilities?
Popunder traffic is a perfect fit for Android utility promotion, especially in the adult segment. The audience is mainly 18+ users who value anonymity and privacy. They are the most interested in proxy browsers and VPN apps.

Why it works:

The audience cares about privacy and anonymity
Utilities with VPN and proxy directly address that need
Popunder format instantly drives the user to the landing page, boosting CR

📌 Direct answer to a need + aggressive format = high conversion when promoting Android utilities

How We Successfully Scaled XPlay: 150,000 Installs per Day

Thanks to deep segmentation and precise targeting, Kadam’s optimizers ensured fast and stable growth.
In addition, built-in automation and our own micro-bidding tools allow real-time bid management across all key targets and placements. The system dynamically adjusts them to the actual traffic profitability, maximizing campaign efficiency for the advertiser.

As a result, the growth in installs looked as follows:

In the XPlay case, we tracked three key performance metrics: CR, installs, and CPI.

Below we show stats by country, Android versions, device brands, device types, and browser languages. These data points help identify where and under what conditions Android utilities scale the fastest.

GEO Statistics: Top Markets for Android Utilities

Country	CR (%)	Installs	CPI ($)
Pakistan	3.67	296,036	0.039
Indonesia	2.16	327,560	0.056
India	0.99	177,651	0.028
Brazil	0.72	42,822	0.15

Pakistan and Indonesia showed the best combination of high CR and low CPI, making them priority regions for Android utility scaling.

Statistics by Android Version

Android Version	CR (%)	Installs	CPI ($)
Android 12	1.80	134,059	0.063
Android 13	1.79	167,353	0.064
Android 14	1.77	230,046	0.066
Android 11	1.73	151,079	0.065

Conclusion: The breakdown by Android versions showed: the leader was version 14, followed by 12 and 13. While Android 12 and 13 delivered the highest CR (1.80% and 1.79%), Android 14 achieved the most favorable CR-to-CPI ratio.

Statistics by Brand

Brand	CR (%)	Installs	CPI ($)
Infinix	2.68	78,877	0.047
Tecno Mobile	2.28	58,719	0.051
RealMe	2.00	52,206	0.055
Samsung Galaxy	1.58	156,966	0.080

Conclusion: Leaders by CR – Infinix (2.68%), Tecno Mobile (2.28%), and RealMe (2.00%) with low CPI. This confirms the high engagement of budget smartphone users.

Statistics by Device Type

Device	CR (%)	Installs	CPI ($)
Phablet	1.48	7,735	0.064
Tablet	1.19	4,158	0.10
Smartphone	1.14	1,480,537	0.073

Conclusion: Smartphones delivered the main install volume, but phablets showed the best CR (1.48%), linked to session length and utilitarian use.

Statistics by Browser Language

Language	CR (%)	Installs	CPI ($)
Indonesian	2.11	320,878	0.057
English	1.32	749,236	0.069

Conclusion: The highest CR came from Indonesian (2.11%) and English (1.32%). These segments showed the strongest engagement, especially in emerging markets.

Conclusions: Install Growth with Kadam Full-Management

Switching to RevShare and fully delegating media buying and optimization to Kadam’s team provided XPlay not only with stability but with explosive growth:

Install growth: from 10,000 to 150,000 per day — in just 5 days after launch
Total installs: over 1.55M in 3 weeks
Click-to-store-to-install conversion: not lower than 3.5%
Landing page efficiency growth: CR +41%

Want the Same Results?

If you own an Android utility, don’t waste time on CPI and manual work. Switch to RevShare, delegate everything to Kadam, and get:
✅ Profit growth by paying only for real revenue, not random installs
✅ Reduced resource costs – all optimization, analytics, and budget management on our side
✅ Accelerated scaling – first significant results and install growth already 5 days after launch

Sign up on the Kadam platform and launch your promotion with our team. For more detailed information, you can always reach out to our support team in the advertiser’s cabinet.