A practical map of mobile acquisition channels beyond Meta and Google

Start with channel families

Social feeds, search intent, app networks, OEM or store inventory and programmatic exchanges behave differently. The first question is where the product story can be understood and where the target event can be returned reliably.

Readiness before access

An available account is not a launch plan. For each network, document attribution, creative formats, geo coverage, billing, moderation risk, optimization event and the minimum learning budget.

• Operated now
• Fit review required
• Research before recommendation

One test should answer one economic question

Do not open five networks to compare dashboard CPI. Define a cohort window, value event, creative control and stop rule. The useful output is not a winning logo; it is a repeatable reason to allocate the next unit of budget.