As mobile ad targeting becomes less effective, the “super app” idea could become more appealing in the West with companies scrambling to keep people inside apps
Super apps, immensely popular in Asia but not in the U.S., are the new hot thing for companies scrambling to capture ever more of our time, attention and money Tweets: @glenngabe , @dherman76 , @glenngabe , @wavesblog , @minzengwsj , @wsj , @jchengwsj , @bullymaus , @stinson , @ravisutanjani , @namansingh1897 , and @thematicman Tweets: Glenn Gabe / @glenngabe : WeChat is the prime example: “WeChat became so dominant by slowly adding features, starting with payments. Eventually, WeChat launched a platform for “mini apps” within WeChat itself, but no one knew if it would be a success at first...” https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/... Darren Herman / @dherman76 : solid piece on the rise of super apps by @mims in @wsj. first super app IMHO was America Online, similar in features and partnerships to WeChat (but absolutely not the same). https://www.wsj.com/... Glenn Gabe / @glenngabe : Not sure many would be thrilled to have one app control so much... Would you use a super app? -> As mobile ad targeting becomes less effective, the “super app” idea could become more appealing in the West w/companies scrambling to keep people inside apps https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/... Simonetta Vezzoso / @wavesblog : « As companies look to keep users inside their walled gardens and introduce them to services they might not already be using, it's likely to mean we'll be spending more time inside individual super apps—whether or not we think they're all that super » https://twitter.com/... @minzengwsj : Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's super...apps. Columnist @mims explains why tech giants want to stuff more features into their platforms. https://www.wsj.com/... @wsj : Uber wants to start selling train tickets and offering car rentals. Spotify now offers audiobooks and video streaming. Why are apps sprouting so many features? https://www.wsj.com/... Jonathan Cheng / @jchengwsj : “WeChat, launched in 2011 by Chinese internet giant Tencent, is the archetypal super app...WeChat didn't set out to become a super app, and in fact there's no word in Chinese for ‘super app.’” @mims https://www.wsj.com/... @bullymaus : Technology is great. But sometimes I'm happy to have an inclination towards pen & paper. https://twitter.com/... @stinson : China did it first. https://twitter.com/... @ravisutanjani : Super Apps didn't work quite well in India Now Tata Neu is experimenting with everything from Grocery, Travel, Shopping and even FinTech, Offering Digital Gold and Personal Loans, Do you think they can make it big? Naman Raj Singh / @namansingh1897 : @Ravisutanjani Yes I guess. Super Apps haven't been tested in India with it's full potential. Hike came before time. PayTM, PhonePe they tried to be but their service particularly in e-comm domain was not able to compete with Amazon/Flipkart. I guess Tata Neu, Jio & Adani Labs will make it 🔥🇮🇳 @thematicman : Living in China for the past 6 years, I have experienced first-hand the power of Super Apps. Using the apps WeChat or AliPay, you literally transact life on them. Super Apps are the future. POWERED BY POLYGON! #POLYGON #PolygonMatic #SUPERAPPS #MATIC #Web3 https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
The super-app idea has been circling the West for years: a 2019 analysis framed Google Maps as a potential WeChat-style everything app, and TechCrunch documented Paytm, Ola, and Amazon bundling services across India that same spring. What changed by mid-2022 is the economics — as mobile ad targeting loses effectiveness, owning the whole session inside one app becomes a monetization strategy, not just a convenience play.
The template remains WeChat, which added payments first and then opened a mini-apps platform inside the app itself. Since this report, the pattern has kept diffusing: Tata Neu has experimented with grocery, travel, shopping, and fintech including digital gold and personal loans, and by 2025 the Gulf saw an outright consolidation race among Careem, Talabat, Amazon, Botim, and Noon.
First-order effects
- Named players are already executing the bundle: Uber seeks to sell train tickets and offer car rentals, while Spotify adds audiobooks and video streaming — both converting single-purpose apps into multi-service platforms.
- Tech giants respond to weaker ad targeting by stuffing more features into their platforms to keep users inside walled gardens, making engagement retention the direct substitute for precision advertising.
Second-order effects
- Bundling alone does not guarantee category wins: Paytm and PhonePe were unable to compete with Amazon and Flipkart in e-commerce despite super-app ambitions, so incumbents with vertical depth still defend their turf against generalist platforms.
- Monetization migrates toward non-ad mechanics — Chinese entertainment apps already diversify beyond ads and subscriptions via tips, micropayments, and coupons, a revenue toolkit Western super apps would need to import as targeting degrades.
Third-order effects
- If WeChat's sequence holds — payments first, then a hosted mini-apps platform — Western super apps could evolve from feature bundles into platforms carrying third-party services, pulling discovery and commerce off the open web and deeper into closed ecosystems.
- Adoption looks regionally uneven — highly adopted in Asia but not widely in the U.S. — so the structural outcome may be a split market where super apps dominate where no single incumbent owns each category, as the Gulf race suggests.
The trend: As mobile ad targeting erodes, consumer platforms worldwide are consolidating multiple services into single apps, with Asia's WeChat and AliPay model serving as the template and regional races in India and the Gulf marking its staged diffusion.