If you're curious which apps truly raked in the cash last month, you're in for a surprise! Pixalate has unveiled the top-grossing apps in the United States based on a unique revenue accounting method. Unlike the typical rankings that reflect the number of installations or sales from paid apps, these rankings are determined by "the amount of open programmatic ad spend estimated to have been derived from those apps." Essentially, these apps are cashing in on programmatic advertising, which involves real-time bidding where the highest bids win, rather than standard negotiations with publishers.

This means that the apps listed are not just popular based on downloads—they're making waves in the advertising world, particularly through programmatic ad spend. This information is drawn from the apps available on the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android users.

Top Picks from the Apple App Store:

Leading the charge in the App Store for November is the highly marketed Vita Mahjong, which earned a staggering $4 million through programmatic ads. This tile-matching game caters primarily to older Americans and has managed to secure the title of highest grossing app in the App Store for that month, while also holding the second position for overall installs within the Board game category.

Following close behind, four other apps each generated $3 million in programmatic ad revenue:

1. Happy Colors by Number Game – A popular coloring app that ranks as the 28th most popular in the Board category.

2. Musi Simple Music Streaming – Notably, this app has been removed from the App Store due to violations of YouTube's terms of service.

3. TuneIn Radio Music & Sports – This app specializes in streaming sports talk and music, ranking 53rd in the Music app category.

4. Solitaire – A classic favorite, this solitaire game is the 10th most installed app among Board category games.

Other notable mentions include ESPN, which took in $2 million in programmatic ad revenue during November, and The Weather Channel, which earned $1 million.

Highlights from the Google Play Store:

Over in the Google Play Store, the standout app for the month was Audiomack: Music Downloader, pulling in an impressive $5 million from programmatic ad spending. This music-streaming app offers users the ability to download and stream the latest tracks effortlessly.

Trailing behind Audiomack, Pandora Music & Podcasts secured $3 million from its advertising revenue, reinforcing its popularity in automated advertising.

The surprising twist in the rankings goes to show that app popularity isn't solely about downloads but also about how effectively they are monetizing through innovative advertising strategies. This approach reflects a shift in the app economy where programmatic advertising continues to grow in importance.

Stay tuned as these revenue analytics might reshape how we appraise app popularity in the future!