January 22 – In response to the short report previously released by the short-selling firm Capitalwatch, AppLovin responded by firmly refuting all allegations in the report. The report is filled with false, misleading, and illogical allegations. In its public disclosure filings, AppLovin has provided full and transparent disclosures regarding the company’s material investments, global business operations, and information related to major shareholders. As a publicly traded company, AppLovin’s common stock is traded freely on the open market; the company cannot, and is not able to, control any individual’s or institution’s buying, selling, or holding of its shares.
AppLovin operates a highly compliant and highly transparent advertising platform and consistently adheres to strict financial compliance standards. In terms of platform governance, we conduct rigorous audits of advertisers and developers through multi-layered and cross-validated audit and risk control mechanisms, including KYC (Know Your Customer) and tax compliance verification, while combining automated and manual review systems to ensure the integrity of the platform ecosystem. Furthermore, as part of platform governance, we explicitly prohibit any illegal or sensitive content (including gambling products) and will take measures such as removal for participants who violate platform rules.
Claims regarding “AppLovin assisting in money laundering” or “its products being used for unauthorized downloads” are entirely untrue. AppLovin exists within a mature ecosystem composed of mainstream app stores, operating systems, and payment service providers. Apps that monetize through our platform must be publicly listed on mainstream app stores and undergo their independent audit and supervision.
From the perspective of economic logic, the so-called “money laundering” allegations are completely untenable: ad display parties can only receive a portion of the revenue from the amount spent by advertisers. This means that any attempt to “launder money” through this method would require giving up a significant proportion of funds while leaving behind highly clear and auditable transaction records between multiple independent corporate entities. Therefore, if the premises of the report were accepted, it would be equivalent to alleging a systemic failure of the entire mobile advertising and app store ecosystem, and the report has not provided any credible evidence to support this conclusion.
AppLovin officials stated: We firmly refute all allegations in this report. The report is filled with false, misleading, and illogical allegations. AppLovin has provided full and transparent disclosures in its public disclosure filings regarding its material investments, global business operations, and information related to major shareholders. As a publicly traded company, AppLovin’s common stock is traded freely on the open market; the company cannot, and is not able to, control the buying, selling, or holding of shares by any individual or institution. AppLovin operates a highly compliant and transparent advertising platform and consistently adheres to strict financial compliance standards. In terms of platform governance, we conduct rigorous audits of advertisers and developers through multi-layered, cross-validated audit and risk control mechanisms, including KYC and tax compliance verification, while combining automated and manual review systems to ensure the integrity of the platform ecosystem. Furthermore, as part of platform governance, we explicitly prohibit any illegal or sensitive content (including gambling products) and will take measures such as removal for participants who violate platform rules.
For information regarding AppLovin’s platform governance rules, please refer to: https://www.applovin.com/en/platform-enforcement.
Claims regarding “AppLovin assisting in money laundering” or “its products being used for unauthorized downloads” are entirely untrue. AppLovin exists within a mature ecosystem composed of mainstream app stores, operating systems, and payment service providers. Apps that monetize through our platform must be publicly listed on major app stores and undergo their independent audit and supervision.
From the perspective of economic logic, the so-called “money laundering” allegations are fundamentally untenable: ad display parties only receive a portion of the funds spent by advertisers. This means any attempt to “launder money” through this method would require forfeiting a significant proportion of capital while leaving clear, auditable transaction records between multiple independent corporate entities. Therefore, accepting the report’s assumptions would be equivalent to alleging a systemic failure of the entire mobile advertising and app store ecosystem, for which the report provides no credible evidence.
News source:
https://news.futunn.com/en/flash/19856396/applovin-responds-to-capitalwatch-short-report-firmly-rejects-all-allegations