Item 1. Business

Our mission is to create meaningful connections between companies and their ideal customers. Our software platform provides end-to-end software and artificial intelligence-powered ("AI") solutions for businesses to reach, monetize and grow their global audience ("Software Platform"). We also operate a portfolio of owned mobile apps (“Apps”). Our scaled business model sits at the nexus of the advertising ecosystem, which creates a durable competitive advantage that has fueled our clients’ success and our strong growth.

AppLovin is critical to the success of advertisers seeking to solve marketing and monetization challenges. Through our technologies and scaled distribution, advertisers are able to better place content so that it is discovered by the right audience, manage, optimize, and analyze their marketing investments, and improve the monetization of their content. Our Software Platform includes a comprehensive suite of tools including:

• AppDiscovery, our marketing software solution, is the cornerstone of our Software Platform, augmented by our rapidly growing MAX monetization solution. AppDiscovery is powered by AXON, our AI-powered advertising engine, and matches advertiser demand with publisher supply through auctions at vast scale and at microsecond-level speeds.

• MAX is our monetization solution, utilizing an advanced in-app bidding technology that optimizes the value of a publisher’s advertising inventory by running a real-time competitive auction, driving more competition, and higher returns for publishers.

• Adjust is our measurement and analytics marketing platform which provides marketers with the visibility, insights, and data needed to scale their apps marketing and drive more informed results.

• Wurl is our connected TV ("CTV") platform that both distributes streaming video for content companies and provides advanced advertising and publishing solutions to attract viewers and maximize revenue.

We generate our revenue from our Software Platform and our Apps. As more advertisers use our Software Platform to market and monetize their content, we gain access to more data regarding users and user engagement1, further strengthening our scaled distribution. As our distribution grows, we gain better insights for our AXON recommendation engine, which then further enhances our Software Platform. Our Apps consist of a globally diversified portfolio of over 200 free-to-play mobile games across five genres, run by eleven studios, some of which we own and others that we partner with. Our studios generally focus on the development of easy to learn and play games, which appeal to a broad range of demographics, but our portfolio also includes several games for other genres.

We report our operating results through two reportable segments: Software Platform and Apps. These segments align with how our Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") allocates resources, makes operating decisions, and manages and assesses the performance of our business. For the amount of revenue derived from our two segments and other relevant data for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, as well as other additional information, see Note 14 of our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

AppLovin Software Platform

Our comprehensive, end-to-end Software Platform delivers value by helping companies scale their businesses and maximize their revenue. Specifically, our Software Platform, which is powered by AXON, our AI-based recommendation engine, enables advertisers to automate their marketing, engagement, and monetization efforts in three core ways. First, we provide marketing technology that allows advertisers to reach more of the most suitable users with personalized content in order to increase the number of users who download and engage with their content. Second, we provide advertisers with monetization

1 Adjust’s marketing platform is operated by our wholly-owned subsidiary and data generated by Adjust's services is not shared with AppLovin or incorporated into or used to optimize its recommendation engine or other technologies.

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and analytics technology to maximize the value of their advertising inventory by obtaining a high price for each impression. Third, we provide developers a set of capabilities to optimize their apps and help streamline their businesses. Additionally, we have entered the CTV advertising market with the integration of Wurl.

Our Software Platform also enables publishers to leverage real-time auctions that optimize the value for each impression, while simultaneously enabling them to attain an attractive value for each of the impressions from their advertising inventory. When these mutually reinforcing elements of our Software Platform are combined, it creates a robust and successful marketing and monetization engine that both sells attractive advertising inventory to advertisers while monetizing it for publishers.

Our Software Platform is delivered through an integrated and seamless user interface, which provides the following benefits to advertisers:

• Reach and attract users at scale:** Our Software Platform reaches approximately 1.4 billion users per day, enabling developers to target and find the right users for their content worldwide. Advertisers are able to set their user acquisition and revenue goals to target the most relevant, highest value users.

• Maximize monetization of engagement:** Advertisers use our Software Platform to generate incremental revenue by maximizing the monetization of their ad inventory. Our tools operate at microsecond-level speeds and at vast scale to enhance monetization for developers while preserving the end user experience.

• Leverage proprietary data and insights:** Advertisers benefit from accessing comprehensive real-time insights through our customized user dashboards, helping them optimize campaigns, improve user engagement, and manage their return on investment.

• Automate time consuming and manual processes:** Our Software Platform automates marketing and monetization, allowing advertisers to focus on improving their content rather than managing complex go-to-market processes manually.

• Seamlessly adapt to industry innovation:** Our Software Platform is continuously updated as the advertising ecosystem evolves. Advertisers on our Software Platform benefit from this ongoing advancement and optimization and are able to rapidly adapt to industry changes in marketing and monetization without losing focus on content creation.

Our Software Platform is primarily made up of four key solutions: AppDiscovery, MAX, Adjust, and Wurl.

AppDiscovery

AppDiscovery is a suite of marketing solutions that enables developers to automate, optimize, and manage their marketing efforts. AppDiscovery is powered by AXON's predictive algorithms to enable advertisers to match their apps to users that are more likely to download them. This form of personalized advertising focuses on the end user, enabling the advertisers to find the right users and delivering to users more of what they are likely to be interested in. Advertisers are not only able to attract users that download, but also find a high volume of users that stay and engage with their apps for greater retention and ultimately, increased opportunities for better monetization. Revenue from AppDiscovery comprises a vast majority of revenue from our Software Platform.

With AppDiscovery, advertisers can define the framework of their campaigns in the following ways:

• Reach:** Advertisers identify what they are willing to pay to acquire their target users. Our technology finds the users at that value who are most likely to download and engage with the app.

• Global scale:** Advertisers can choose to connect with users in different regions around the world, and our technology suggests the best locations based on their parameters.

• Retain and engage:** Our system is built around optimizing to the advertisers revenue so our algorithms automatically adjust based on the likelihood users will engage. Our clients can analyze by retention periods from initial app download onwards, so that advertisers understand the effectiveness of their marketing investments.

• Targeted returns:** Advertisers set their goals and target return on ad sales and our algorithms adjust cost and campaign specifics to meet them.

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AppDiscovery includes the following features:

• Advanced campaign management:** An interface to create, manage, and automatically optimize campaigns based on return on ad sales goals.

• Real-time analytics:** An interface to see results and optimize against them with our ROI-based analytics environment.

• Lifetime Value ("LTV") reporting:** A tool that breaks down campaign results by source and location, allowing advertisers to make real-time, informed decisions about the value and longevity of their campaigns.

• High quality and quantity creatives:** Advertisers can make and test as many creatives as needed. They also have access to our in-house creative team, SparkLabs, for expert ad creation and testing strategies.

MAX

MAX is our in-app bidding software that optimizes the value of publishers' advertising inventory by running a single unbiased, real-time competitive auction, driving more competition and higher returns for publishers. MAX auctions are more effective than historical tools and approaches because MAX yields more targeted users for advertisers and enables publishers to achieve better competitive prices for each impression. Many developers who integrate MAX have experienced a measurable increase in their average revenue per daily active user ("ARPDAU") over traditional monetization tools and save countless hours because they are able to automate manual monetization work through its advanced feature set. As a result, MAX has become the preferred in-app bidding solution for many publishers worldwide, helping drive meaningful growth and momentum for AppLovin.

MAX includes the following features:

• Advanced in-app bidding technology:** MAX’s competitive auctions happen in real time with most bidding platforms in the industry bidding simultaneously for developers’ inventory at high volume. The competitive global demand helps maximize average revenue per user on each impression with many developers experiencing a measurable increase when moving to MAX.

• Automated monetization:** MAX saves developers time through its extensive suite of APIs for automation.

• Ad quality assurance and review:** MAX drives superior user experience with exclusive features that automatically flag risky content to keep developers’ brands safe.

• Powerful insights:** MAX helps developers better understand the LTV for each user and increase revenue to maximize yield for each ad opportunity.

Adjust

Adjust is our measurement and analytics marketing platform which provides the visibility, insights, and tools marketers need to grow their apps from early stage to maturity. Our software-as-a-service ("SaaS") platform is an end-to-end solution for optimizing ad performance and maximizing returns, powered by accurate attribution data and in-depth reporting that are essential for meeting business goals. Adjust allows clients to better understand their users’ journey while allowing marketers to make smarter decisions through measurement, attribution, and fraud prevention.

The Adjust product solutions allow customers to benefit from the following key features:

• Impact through measurement:** Drive results faster with accurate, timely measurement on marketing and ad spend across channels.

• Insights through real-time data and reports:** Easily share timely, actionable insights with stakeholders to drive their business forward.

• Strategic growth with automated attribution solutions:** Scale profits with automated solutions that attribute sources and help customers work smarter and accomplish more.

Wurl

Wurl is our connected TV ("CTV") platform which distributes streaming video for content companies and provides advertising and publishing solutions to maximize advertising revenue, grow their CTV viewership, and strengthen their brand value. Wurl focuses on driving the streaming industry forward with market-leading solutions that help connect the right viewers to the right content. It brings data-driven advertising and measurement to Connected TV. The technology helps companies engage with the highest-value viewers, and ultimately increase their revenue.

Wurl has built the following products to meet their customers’ needs:

• AdPool:** is a monetization solution that connects CTV supply with top advertisers and access to exclusive demand.

• ContentDiscovery:** is an advertising solution that grows audiences, increases engagement, and reduces churn for streaming platforms and apps.

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• Global FAST Pass (GFP):** is a distribution solution that makes it easy to launch Free Ad-supported Streaming TV channels.

AppLovin Apps

Today, our Apps consist of a globally diversified portfolio of over 200 free-to-play mobile games across five genres, run by eleven studios located worldwide with a deep bench of talented developers. Our studios have developed and published games across a number of genres including: casual, match-three, card/casino, midcore, and hyper-casual. A large portion of our portfolio are casual, match-three and card/casino games that have a lower risk of development and generally have more predictable revenue streams and return. These games can be played a few minutes at a time and appeal to a wide range of users across many highly attractive demographics. Our studios leverage live ops to quickly iterate and increase in-game monetization by optimizing app economies and improving in-game conversion on items and offers. The studios operating our portfolio of Apps utilize our Software Platform to market, scale, and monetize our Apps.

Our Strategy for Growth

We have a comprehensive strategy to continue our growth and further enhance our market position in the advertising ecosystem:

• Existing market expansion:** We continue to have an attractive market opportunity within our current mobile app segment, which we intend to address through the optimization of our Software Platform.

• Enhance and extend AI-based technologies:** As we increase our scale and reach, we benefit from compounding improvements to AXON, our AI-powered advertising engine, which in turn improves the efficacy and growth of our Software Platform solutions.

• New market expansion:** We are confident our technology and expertise are applicable to other market segments and geographies we do not currently address, including:

• Non-gaming mobile app segments and industries:** One of our long-term objectives is to provide critical tools to mobile app developers across multiple verticals, including, for example, e-commerce and social media.

◦Other content industries: We believe our deep expertise and capabilities will allow us to successfully apply our solutions to tangential sectors, including with mobile OEMs and carriers through our Array product initiative, as well as the growing CTV industry through our 2022 acquisition of Wurl, LLC. We continue to expand our CTV business through the addition of new content advertisers and supply channels as well as through the application of AXON to CTV.

◦Industry partnerships: We plan to further invest in our sales and marketing teams to increase penetration among new and existing clients, including in expansion markets we are targeting.

• Attracting and retaining the best talent:** Our employees are at the core of our technology and success. We intend to continue to invest in attracting and retaining exceptional talent who share our values and will drive our future growth.

• Pursue strategic investments and partnerships:** Given our proven track record in strategic transactions, and our long-standing relationships with key industry players, we have earned a reputation as a partner of choice, and will continue to consider and leverage strategic acquisitions, partnerships, and investment opportunities to accelerate our growth.

Our Customers and Developer Community

Our globally diverse customers range from the largest enterprises to small and independent businesses and individuals across a variety of industries. Our customers comprise multiple groups within the advertising ecosystem including advertisers leveraging our platform to find users and advertising networks using our mediation solution to purchase advertising inventory. Our Apps also work with advertising networks who purchase advertising inventory and consumers who purchase in-app products. We also work with the mobile app publisher community who leverage our mediation solution to monetize their inventory. The scale and breadth of our customers in terms of size and industry provides us with a competitive advantage.

Competition

We operate in a fragmented advertising ecosystem composed of divisions of large, well-established companies as well as privately-held companies. The large companies in our advertising and mobile app ecosystems may play multiple different roles given the breadth of their businesses.

• Advertisers typically engage with several advertising platforms and networks to purchase advertisements on mobile apps, devices, and on CTV, looking to optimize their marketing investments. Such advertising platform companies vary in size and include players such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Unity Software, as well as various private companies. Several of these platforms, including Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Unity Software, are also our partners and clients.

• There are many companies that develop online and mobile games and other mobile apps. The larger gaming companies in our gaming ecosystem include Activision Blizzard (Microsoft), Tencent, and Zynga (Take-Two

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Interactive), as well as other public and private companies. Many of these companies are also our partners and clients. We also expect new developers to enter the market and existing companies to allocate more resources to develop and market more mobile games and apps.

We believe that the principal competitive factors in our market are:

• the ability to enhance and improve technologies and offerings;

• knowledge, expertise, and experience in the advertising ecosystem;

• relationships with third parties in the advertising ecosystem;

• the ability to reach and target a large number of users;

• the ability to identify and execute on strategic transactions;

• the ability to successfully launch and monetize mobile apps;

• the pricing and perceived value of offerings;

• brand and reputation; and

• ability to expand into new offerings and geographies.

We believe we compete favorably with respect to these factors.

Our Values

Our AppLovin Values capture our company’s culture and guide our approach on how we build and grow our business with all stakeholders:

• Think Like an Entrepreneur**

We take intelligent risks and embrace new challenges as a part of our DNA. We empower our employees to try new things, question the status quo, and constantly innovate. We accomplish this by optimizing resources, keeping our teams lean, agile, focused, and not slowing down progress with bureaucracy.

• Take Initiative, Ownership, and Make an Impact**

We are proactive, voice ideas, and take action to drive ourselves, our teams, and our business toward continued success. We are not an environment where work is handed to you, instead we trust your ability to take ownership and make an impact.

• Hire and Reward “Doers”**

We hire, develop and reward “doers” who are highly motivated, passionate, and want to work in a collaborative and inclusive environment to take their own careers and our business to the next level. We are not afraid to part ways with underperformers or those satisfied with the bare minimum and will enable them to follow their passions towards a better path.

• Move Fast**

We move quickly and intentionally. We test, iterate and optimize constantly, using data to drive decisions. Together we discover new ways to move beyond accomplishing our objectives and surpassing expectations while maintaining our high standards. Even as we move fast, we act with integrity and transparency. We do not fear failure because we know that failure often breeds opportunity, and ultimately, success.

• Never Stop Learning**

We are curious and seek to learn more than just what’s in our lanes. Learning the latest technologies and what others are doing around us allows us to identify problems and build products to solve them. It enables us to adapt, innovate, and thrive in a constantly evolving and competitive landscape.

Research and Development

Continued investment in research and development is important to advancing our Software Platform and Apps. These advancements are key to attaining our strategic objectives and meeting the evolving needs of our customers. The underlying elastic architecture of our solutions allows us to create, test, and deploy new features rapidly while distributing them globally. We also continue to invest in new and existing Apps.

Our research and development team is working on cutting edge technologies, which allows us to attract top talent globally. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 950 employees, or 54% of our total headcount, involved in research and development and related activities. Our research and development organization is based in Palo Alto, California with additional resources around the world.

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Intellectual Property

Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our intellectual property rights with respect to our Software Platform and Apps, and to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating valid and enforceable third-party intellectual property. We seek to accomplish that objective by establishing intellectual property rights in and protecting those assets through a combination of patents, patent applications, registered and unregistered trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, and other contractual measures. Though we rely in part upon these legal and contractual protections, we believe that factors, such as our unique position in the advertising ecosystem, our expertise and determination of our employees, and the functionality and flexibility of our Software Platform in an ever-evolving industry, are also key contributors to our success.

As of December 31, 2023, we owned the following trademarks related to the business: 45 registered trademarks in the United States, 10 pending trademark applications in the United States, as well as 477 registered trademarks in non-U.S. jurisdictions, and 11 pending trademark applications in various non-U.S. jurisdictions. We also have registered domain names for websites that we use in our business, such as www.applovin.com. Finally, as of December 31, 2023, we owned the following patents related to the business: 28 issued U.S. patents and 1 U.S. patent application. Our issued U.S. patents, and any patents that may issue from our pending applications, are scheduled to expire at dates ranging between 2033 and 2039, excluding any additional term for patent term adjustments or extensions. We have acquired a number of patents through our acquisitions that are not critical to the combined business on a post-closing basis. As such, we regularly review our patent portfolio, and have and expect to continue to abandon the prosecution of patents that are not critical to our operations.

We intend to pursue additional intellectual property protection to the extent we believe it would advance our business objectives and maintain our competitive position. Notwithstanding these efforts, there can be no assurance that we will adequately protect our intellectual property or that it will provide any competitive advantage. We take steps to protect our proprietary information, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, developers, and vendors, and generally limiting access to and distribution of our proprietary information. However, we cannot assure you that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our proprietary rights. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our Software Platform or Apps or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary rights is difficult and time consuming. Further, our intellectual property rights may be invalidated, circumvented, or challenged. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States. See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Intellectual Property” for more information regarding risks related to intellectual property.

Employees and Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2023, we had a total of 1,745 employees, comprised of 1,717 full-time and 28 part-time/intern employees, located in 17 countries. As a result of our historical strategic acquisition and partnership activity, we also have access to approximately 2,000 additional team members, a majority of whom are research and development resources and all of whom are located outside of the United States. Our geographic diversification enhances our ability to retain and attract highly skilled talent as well as manage our headcount costs. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 49% of our global employees were located outside of the U.S. and 51% in the U.S. Approximately 53% of our U.S. employees are from one or more diverse groups, including Asian, Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Two or More Races and approximately 36% of our U.S. employees are female. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. In certain countries in which we operate, we are subject to, and comply with, local labor law requirements, which may automatically make our employees subject to industry-wide collective bargaining agreements. We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our relations with our employees as positive.

Our employees are a key reason for our success and essential for our continued growth. We benefit from a distributed global workforce and plan to continue investing in our employees. We provide competitive compensation packages designed to attract and retain talent, as informed by market compensation surveys and data. We have multiple incentive programs throughout the organization designed to provide short-term and long-term incentives, including base cash, equity and/or performance cash awards.

Our culture and industry success further enable us to successfully hire and retain employees aligned with our mission. We were named as an Honorary Cynopsis Top Women in Media, 2023; one of the Hottest Adtech Companies of 2021 by Business Insider; and a Certified Great Place to Work in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal awarded us one of the Bay Area’s Best Places to Work in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Inc. further recognized us as a Best Workplace 2022. In recognition of our ongoing efforts to promote diversity, we earned a 2023 Q+ Workplace certification, affirming our dedication to creating an inclusive work environment for all employees. Furthermore, we have been acknowledged by Great Place to Work for Best Workplaces for Parents and by Fortune Best Places to Work in Advertising and Marketing.

Compliance with Government Regulation

We are subject to various federal, state, and international laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on mobile platforms, including those relating to privacy, data protection, and the use and protection of data from employees, users and others (including minors), the internet, behavioral advertising, mobile apps, content, advertising and marketing activities, sweepstakes and giveaways, and anti-corruption. Additional laws and regulations relating to these areas likely will be

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passed in the future, and these or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted or enforced in new or expanded manners, each of which could result in significant limitations on ways we can collect and process data of users, employees and others, communicate with users, and operate our business. New and evolving laws and regulations, and changes in their enforcement and interpretation, may require changes to our Software Platform, Apps, or business practices, and may significantly increase our compliance costs and otherwise adversely affect our business and results of operations. As our business expands to further scale our Software Platform and include additional Apps, as we continue to operate our AI-powered advertising engine AXON, and as our operations continue to expand internationally, our compliance requirements and costs may increase and we may be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny.

Data Privacy and Security Laws

The data we collect and otherwise process is integral to our Software Platform and Apps, providing us with insights to improve our developer tools, to optimize app discovery and monetization and to improve our Apps. Our collection, use, receipt, and other processing of data in our business subjects us to numerous U.S. state and federal laws and regulations, and foreign laws and regulations, addressing privacy, data protection and the collection, storing, sharing, use, transfer, disclosure, protection and processing of certain types of data. Such regulations include, for example, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the California Consumer Privacy Act. We work to comply with, and to help allow developers and advertising ecosystem partners to comply with, applicable laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and information security. This helps underpin our strategy of building trust and providing a strong experience to advertising ecosystem partners and clients. See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters—We are subject to laws and regulations concerning privacy, information security, data protection, consumer protection, advertising, tracking, targeting, and protection of minors, and these laws and regulations are continually evolving. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with these laws and regulations could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations” for additional information about our approach to laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware in July 2011. Our principal executive offices are located at 1100 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California 94304, and our telephone number is (800) 839-9646. Our website address is www.applovin.com. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and inclusions of our website address in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are inactive textual references only. You should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in deciding whether to purchase shares of our Class A common stock.

“AppLovin,” our logo, and our other registered or common law trademarks, service marks, or trade names appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of AppLovin Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners.

Available Information

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, are filed with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by us with the SEC are available free of charge on our website at www.investors.applovin.com when such reports are available on the SEC’s website. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The information contained on the websites referenced in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only.

We announce material information to the public through filings with the SEC, the investor relations page on our website, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts, and our corporate blog at blog.applovin.com in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. We encourage investors, the media, and others to follow the channels listed above and to review the information disclosed through such channels. Any updates to the list of disclosure channels through which we will announce information will be posted on the investor relations page on our website.

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