Caller identification company Truecaller is cutting 70 jobs, about 15% of its staff, after a sharp drop in revenue and profit exposed how vulnerable its ad-driven model has become.

The Sweden-based firm reported that net sales fell 27% to 362 million SEK, with its largest market, India, suffering a 41% year-on-year decline. Advertising, long the backbone of Truecaller’s business, was hit hardest, with ad revenues tumbling 44%.

Chief executive Rishit Jhunjhunwala told analysts that the comparison with last year was particularly harsh because earlier quarters had been buoyed by a surge in spending from India’s real-money gaming sector during the cricket season. That flow of cash has largely dried up after Indian authorities moved against real-money gaming apps such as Dream11 and MPL, a sector industry groups had valued at tens of billions of dollars.

The crackdown has rippled across the digital advertising ecosystem, stripping revenue from platforms that once relied on aggressive marketing by gaming companies. For Truecaller, which has a deep footprint in India, the impact has been severe.

The company also cited geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as a drag on regional ad sales, and pointed to changes in algorithms by a major programmatic advertising partner, identified by analysts as Google, as another factor depressing demand.

Truecaller’s challenges are not limited to advertising. In India, telecom operators are pushing their own caller identification solutions, including network-level services such as Calling Name Presentation, which threaten to erode one of Truecaller’s core advantages. The company has also seen a modest decline in app downloads, underscoring intensifying competition and market saturation.

Amid the gloom, Truecaller highlighted a few bright spots. The service now counts more than 500 million active users worldwide, and subscription revenue rose 27%, accounting for nearly a third of net sales. The company has been investing in premium features such as an AI Assistant and Family Protection tools in an effort to diversify away from volatile ad income and lock in paying users.

Investors have punished the stock over the past year, with shares losing the bulk of their value before showing some recovery following the latest earnings release. The job cuts and renewed focus on subscriptions signal a company racing to adapt as its once-reliable ad engine sputters.