Hey! Great question—advertising VPN services on mobile apps definitely has its perks, but also a few challenges you’ll want to keep in mind:

1. Limited screen space
Mobile ads have to grab attention fast. You’ve got way less room to explain benefits, so your messaging has to be super clear and punchy—something like:
“Protect your data. One-tap VPN.”
Forget long copy—short, benefit-driven lines work best here.

2. Ad fatigue happens quickly
Mobile users scroll fast and see tons of ads daily, especially inside apps. You’ll need to keep refreshing your creatives—new colors, different headlines, maybe even rotating features (like “No-Log Policy,” “Access Geo-blocked Content,” etc.).

3. App store policy issues
If your ad takes people to an app store download, double-check the platform’s rules. Google and Apple are picky about how VPNs are described (especially anything related to bypassing geo-restrictions or censorship). Avoid anything that sounds shady.

4. Low conversion rates without trust
VPNs are privacy tools—people won’t download them unless they feel safe. You need clear trust signals in the ad and on the landing page or app store listing:
???? “No logs”
???? “Used by 1M+ users”
???? “Servers in 50+ countries”
Even a testimonial or a star-rating graphic can help boost confidence.

5. Attribution tracking is tricky
If you’re running ads across different networks, tracking which one actually led to the install can be hard without using a mobile MMP (mobile measurement partner) like AppsFlyer or Adjust. Definitely worth looking into if you’re running multiple channels.

Also, I’ve had some decent results promoting VPNs through 7Search PPC. It’s not as massive as Google Ads, but it does let you target mobile users by device type and app category, which is super useful for VPN offers. The CPCs are more reasonable too, so you can afford to test different creatives and angles without blowing your budget.

Hope this helps! Would love to hear what others are doing too—especially anyone running app install campaigns with native ads.