21 new countries in Apple Search Ads: Türkiye, Slovakia, Kenya, and 18 more

Coming soon

Apple Search Ads is about to grow even bigger with approximately 34 million of users to get available to reach out via ads! Apple has just announced a coming-soon expansion to 21 new countries.

Middle East: Armenia, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Turkey, Uzbekistan

Europe: Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia

Africa: Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco

Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka

Among the most anticipated target markets are Türkiye with approx. 13M of iOS users, Marocco (3.3M) and Iraq (2.2M), followed by around 1.5 M in Nepal, Uzbekistan, Ghana and Algeria each.

Following a major expansion to Latin America region earlier this year, this new release brings some solid opportunities for the app advertisers. It means you can introduce your app to a new market, grow your app’s user base, improve cost-efficiency by reaching countries with a lower cost per install.

What you should know about the upcoming release

Compare this new expand to that to their last release, which brought in 9 countries and about 35 million users, mostly from one region. This time, we're talking double the countries with roughly the same user count.

Previously, app creators in the new countries could use Search Ads to run campaigns with a global reach. Now, they'll also have the option to focus their advertising efforts on local audiences within their own countries.

We can witness Apple Search Ads is turning into this massive global network where everyone's playing by the same rules (well, mostly - places like mainland China still have their quirks). What does this mean for you? If you learned how to run and optimize Apple Search Ads in one country, you've basically got a cheat sheet for breaking into totally new markets. It's like having a universal key to unlock growth everywhere.

Regional coverage

Unlike the last update that was all about Latin America, this time they're hitting up the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia.

With fewer blank spots on the map, you've got a golden ticket to expand into neighboring countries. Think about it - you can ride the wave of language and cultural similarities to boost your app's reach. For example, if you've been already marketing your app in India, you can now reach the users with Apple Search Ads in Nepal and Sri Lanka and establish your app in Indostan peninsula. This update is basically giving you a backstage pass to grow your app in regions you might've overlooked before.

Approx. number of iOS users in the new Apple Search Ads countries

Middle East:

• Turkey - 13M
• Iraq - 3.5M
• Uzbekistan - 1.5M
• Armenia - 500K
• Bahrain - 300K
• Cyprus - 300K

Africa:

• Morocco - 3.3M
• Kenya - 2.2M
• Algeria - 1.5M
• Ghana - 1.5M

Asia:

• Nepal - 1.6M
• Mongolia - 600K
• Sri Lanka - 800K
• Kyrgyzstan - 400K

Europe:

• Slovakia - 800K
• Bulgaria - 600K
• Estonia - 400K
• Latvia - 400K
• Slovenia - 300K
• Luxembourg - 200K
• Iceland - 150K

Hitting the big players

Türkiye is undoubtedly the star of this release, bringing a whopping 13 million iOS users to the table. Since Brazil's successful launch, Türkiye has been the most anticipated big player to join the ad network. The reason is not only the number of the user base but the fantastic engagement rates it possesses. The numbers speak for themselves:

• App market revenue in Türkiye skyrocketed to $910 million in 2023, more than doubling the pre-pandemic figure of $418 million.
• An impressive 3.9 billion app downloads were recorded in Türkiye in 2023.
• That averages out to 58.3 downloads per user - talk about app enthusiasm!

What auction price to expect in the new countries?

Based on previous releases, we're likely to see a mix of early adopters jumping in from day one, followed by a wave of other advertisers - both local apps and global players looking to expand their reach. This influx can cause some auction fever, potentially pushing bids higher than you might expect.

At Asapty, we've been keeping a close eye on bid fluctuations in newly released countries. Here's our game plan, based on what we've learned:

1. Be ready to roll from day one, but start small. Test the waters with lower bids and traffic volume.
2. Use this initial period wisely. It's prime time for collecting local keywords, crafting tailored custom product pages, and monitoring auction trends.
3. Patience pays off. After about 2-3 weeks, things tend to settle down. The auction stabilizes, giving you more room for optimization.

Check out our previous blog post about the last new country release for some tactics and launch tips to ensure success of your campaigns from day 1.