In-app video is one of the few sources where you can launch in a dozen GEOs in a day, optimize to payers instead of installs and run gambling offers without fighting social-platform moderation. The hard part is the first week: without a reference point, every CPM looks either too cheap or too expensive, and teams kill good GEOs or overpay in bad ones.
Below are current starting benchmarks for Android video in 8 GEOs, how to read them, which markets we would launch first and how to set up a test so the numbers mean something.
Android video benchmarks by GEO
Starting ranges for Android video campaigns: CPM, cost per install (CPI), CTR and click-to-install conversion (CR).
| GEO | CPM | CPI | CTR | CR to install |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | $35–45 | $3.5–5.5 | 69–79% | 1.1–1.4% |
| 🇫🇷 France | $14–21 | $3–4 | 64–74% | 0.6–0.9% |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | $14–25 | $3.5–7 | 73–77% | 0.5–1.1% |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | $30–45 | $5–8 | 72–78% | 0.8–1.5% |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | $55–70 | $6–8 | 75–80% | 1.5–2% |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | $25–35 | $4.5–6.5 | 71–81% | 0.8–1.3% |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | $13–20 | $5–6 | 73–83% | 0.3–0.6% |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $17–25 | $14–18 | 70–80% | 0.2–0.3% |
These are ranges for the start of a campaign, not a promise. Your creative, app category, store page and optimization event will move them in either direction.
How to read the table: CPM lies, CPI tells the truth
The most useful thing in this table is not any single number but the gap between CPM and CPI.
- Australia has the most expensive impressions on the list — $55–70 CPM — yet its CPI ($6–8) is in the middle. The reason is conversion: 1.5–2% of clicks turn into installs, the highest of all eight GEOs.
- The Netherlands is the opposite. Impressions are cheap ($17–25), but only 0.2–0.3% of clicks install, so CPI jumps to $14–18 — the most expensive on the list.
- France combines moderate CPM with the cheapest installs: $3–4.
A rough way to see it: installs per 1,000 impressions ≈ 1,000 × CTR × CR. With mid-range values that is about 13 installs per 1,000 impressions in Australia and about 2 in the Netherlands. Same format, same platform — about seven times the difference. (Illustrative calculation based on the midpoints above.)
The takeaway: never pick a GEO by CPM. A cheap impression in a market where nobody installs is the most expensive traffic you can buy.
Which GEOs to launch first
In focus right now: Italy, France, the United Kingdom. France has the cheapest CPI on the list. Italy gives a low entry CPM with a reasonable CPI. The UK is expensive per impression, but conversion above 1% keeps installs at $3.5–5.5 — a good price for a Tier-1 market.
Stable: Germany and Australia. Neither is cheap, but both convert well and behave predictably. Good markets to scale once the funnel is proven.
Enter with proven hypotheses: Spain, the Netherlands, Canada. Spain and the Netherlands have low conversion to install, so a weak creative or store page will hurt CPI immediately. Canada is more expensive and needs a tested setup. Bring creatives and events that already worked elsewhere rather than testing from scratch here.
Optimization: go beyond installs
Installs are only the entry metric. What makes in-app video interesting in 2026 is how deep you can optimize:
- ROAS optimization from launch — no need to wait weeks for the algorithm to unlock value-based bidding.
- Event optimization on Payer and Retention — the network looks for users who pay or come back, not just users who install.
- Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 testing in parallel, with a wide GEO list.
- Gambling projects are allowed, which is rare among large mobile sources.
For iGaming and crypto this matters most: an install that never deposits is worth nothing. Start with install or registration events to collect data, then move to payer or ROAS optimization as soon as you have enough postbacks.
How to set up a test that gives real answers
- Pick 2–3 GEOs from the "in focus" group, not all eight at once. Budget spread thin produces noise.
- Prepare 3–5 video creatives per GEO with localized language and offer. Short, with the value shown in the first seconds.
- Connect your MMP and send postbacks for install, registration and purchase or deposit. Without them, deep optimization has nothing to learn from.
- Run the first days on install or registration events, then switch to Payer, Retention or ROAS once the data is there.
- Compare GEOs by cost per payer, not by CPM or CPI.
- Scale winners, cut placements with no payers, and only then expand to the "stable" and "proven hypotheses" groups.
What we have learned from in-app campaigns
We run in-app traffic for crypto and iGaming products across several mobile networks. A few related cases:
- Scaling in-app traffic for crypto and iGaming — moving from a test to scale with optimization on in-app events instead of installs.
- Testing a new in-app network for crypto and iGaming — how we check a source before putting real budget in.
- In-app traffic for crypto brands: CPC and CPM mobile ads.
If your product is in gambling, see also our guides on how to buy iGaming traffic and casino traffic in 2026.
The bottom line
In-app video gives a wide GEO list, deep optimization and room for gambling offers — but only if you read the numbers correctly. Judge GEOs by CPI and cost per payer, not CPM; start with the markets where conversion carries the price; and bring proven hypotheses into the harder GEOs.
Planning an in-app launch? Get in touch — we will help you get an ad account quickly, pick the first GEOs and set up a test for your product. More case studies — in the blog.