Hooked Media Group
Hooked Media Group operates an Android mobile app discovery platform combining an ML-based recommendation engine for consumers with a self-serve, $0.50 cost-per-install advertising platform for game developers, monetizing without SDK integration through Google Play.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Hooked Media Group does
Hooked Media Group is a privately held mobile app discovery platform headquartered in San Francisco, founded circa 2008 with VC backing from Altos Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners (~$4.5M total raised across 2008-2009). The company operates a two-sided business: a consumer-facing Android app ("Hooked") that delivers personalized game and app recommendations to end users, and a developer-facing self-serve advertising platform ("Hooked for Developers" / "Boomerang") that charges a flat $0.50 cost-per-install (CPI) rate for quality installs routed through Google Play. Core products also include Hooked Manager, which tracks installed games and usage patterns across multiple devices without requiring SDK integration.
The platform's technical foundation is a machine-learning recommendation engine that dynamically cycles through similarity, CPI, demographic, and clustering algorithms based on user behavior, generating personalized %-chance predictions using 40+ factors per user. NLP-based sentiment analysis crawls and analyzes user reviews, surfacing emotional keywords via tag cloud. A proprietary cross-device game session identification system captures usage telemetry without SDK integration, and the developer dashboard provides campaign analytics combining behavioral and demographic data. Go-to-market is product-led growth: developers register, pre-pay via PayPal, and track through Google Analytics, while consumers receive recommendations directly within the Hooked Android app.
The company monetizes exclusively through transactional CPI advertising (no subscription, no SDK-based attribution fees), with reported scale of "millions of people daily" and a 24% conversion rate cited by Huffington Post. CEO Prita Uppal and VP Advertising Lee Blickstein lead a team of 11-50 employees. There is no disclosed institutional ownership beyond the 2008-2009 venture rounds, no subsequent funding, no M&A activity, and no documented partnerships, leaving the operating posture relatively static in the public record.
Hooked Media Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hooked Media Group
- Legal name
- Hooked Media Group
- Website
- https://hookedmediagroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hooked Media Group operates an Android mobile app discovery platform combining an ML-based recommendation engine for consumers with a self-serve, $0.50 cost-per-install advertising platform for game developers, monetizing without SDK integration through Google Play.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hooked Media Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mobile App Discovery Platform
- NAICS
- Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Affiliate & Partner Media Buying (BPAFABAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- RSS/Feed Readers & Subscription Aggregators (MPACAKAD)
Keywords
Where Hooked Media Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Hooked Media Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Cost Per Install (CPI) Advertising: Developers pay $0.50 per install when users install and open their game after being directed by the platform. The platform only charges for quality installs where users actually download and engage with the app. Pre-payment required via PayPal in developer dashboard.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Cost Per Install at $0.50 per quality install |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels1 record
Hooked Media Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hooked Media Group operates a mobile app discovery platform that recommends games and apps to end users via the Hooked Android app using real-time machine learning. For game developers, it offers a cost-per-install (CPI) user-acquisition service at $0.50 per quality install that requires no SDK integration and routes users directly to Google Play for download.
Product overview
Hooked Media Group offers a mobile app discovery platform as its core product, supplemented by Boomerang (a developer tracking and campaign management tool) and the Hooked Manager feature for personal game management. The platform helps developers distribute, enhance, and monetize their games and apps through a pay-per-install model with advanced targeting, while providing end users with personalized app recommendations based on preferences, gameplay statistics, and social/interest mapping.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hooked (Mobile App Discovery App) Android mobile app providing advanced search and a recommendation system to help end users discover new games and apps based on preferences, gameplay statistics, and social/interest mapping. Includes real-time recommendations, personalized preference predictions, full-text search with filters, sentiment analysis of reviews, friend activity feeds, and cross-device game management. Targeted at mobile gamers and Android app users.
- Hooked for Developers Self-serve developer user-acquisition product enabling Android game developers to register games, set up CPI campaigns at $0.50 per quality install, and drive downloads via Google Play. No SDK or advertising assets required; tracking via Google Analytics using source 'Hooked' and medium 'Toro'; pre-paid via PayPal. Targeted at mobile game developers seeking quality installs in a crowded marketplace.
- Boomerang Developer tracking and campaign management tool that enables install attribution through Google Analytics (source 'Hooked', medium 'Toro'). Provides a developer dashboard for managing campaigns and tracking install performance. Targeted at mobile game developers using the Hooked for Developers platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- 24 percent conversion rate
Companies that use Hooked Media Group
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Hooked Media Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability6 records
Feature7 records
Hooked Media Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Hooked Media Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tapjoy: Mobile advertising and rewarded engagement platform that helps developers acquire and retain users. Directly comparable developer-side economics and CPI/rewarded install model.
- Chartboost: Mobile game ad network and programmatic monetization platform focused on game developers. Directly competes with Hooked's CPI discovery product for mobile game developer budgets.
- Vungle: In-app video advertising and user-acquisition platform for mobile app developers. Overlaps with Hooked's CPI business but emphasizes video creative and SDK-based mediation.
- Liftoff: Performance-based mobile user acquisition platform specializing in CPI campaigns for app developers. Closest comparable in business model (pay-per-quality-install targeting) and target customer (mobile game and app developers).
- AppBrain: Android-only app discovery platform offering recommendations, rankings, and developer install-promotion tools. Most directly comparable peer given the Android-only focus and dual user/developer model.
Broad incumbents
- data.ai (formerly App Annie): App market data and analytics platform that competes with the intelligence side of Hooked's offering. Comparable in app-discovery insights for developers and enterprises, with a much broader analytics product suite.
- Sensor Tower: App intelligence and market research platform covering app store discovery, download estimates, and advertising insights. Comparable to Hooked's app-discovery data layer but operates primarily as a SaaS analytics business rather than a CPI network.
- Unity Ads: In-game advertising network from Unity Technologies that targets mobile game developers for user acquisition. Comparable to Hooked's developer-focused CPI offering but bundled with the dominant mobile game engine.
- ironSource: Mobile app monetization and discovery platform (now part of Unity). Competes with Hooked for developer user-acquisition budgets via CPI and rewarded video, with a much larger SDK-based footprint and global sales motion.
- AppLovin: Public mobile ad-tech and monetization platform powering user acquisition and app discovery at massive scale. Direct overlap with Hooked's CPI-driven developer acquisition business, though AppLovin serves a far broader portfolio across bidding, mediation, and analytics.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Hooked Media Group social profiles
Digital presenceHooked Media Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hooked Media Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Hooked Media Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hooked Media Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hooked Media Group
What does Hooked Media Group do?
Hooked Media Group operates a mobile app discovery platform that recommends games and apps to end users via the Hooked Android app using real-time machine learning. For game developers, it offers a cost-per-install (CPI) user-acquisition service at $0.50 per quality install that requires no SDK integration and routes users directly to Google Play for download.
Is Hooked Media Group a public or private company?
Hooked Media Group is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Hooked Media Group founded?
Hooked Media Group was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hooked Media Group based?
Hooked Media Group is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Hooked Media Group make money?
One revenue line is on record: cost Per Install (CPI) Advertising.
Who are Hooked Media Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tapjoy, Chartboost, Vungle, Liftoff and AppBrain. Broad incumbents are data.ai (formerly App Annie), Sensor Tower, Unity Ads, ironSource and AppLovin.
Does Hooked Media Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hooked Media Group.
What industry is Hooked Media Group in?
Hooked Media Group's product category is Mobile App Discovery Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFABAJ, Affiliate & Partner Media Buying, with a secondary code of MPACAKAD, RSS/Feed Readers & Subscription Aggregators. Its NAICS code is 541830.