What we do for mobile apps

What is mobile app advertising?

Mobile app advertising covers campaigns that aim to get an app installed, reopened or used for a particular action inside the app. What sets it apart from web advertising is that the conversion happens not in a browser but in an app store and inside the app itself. This means both targeting and measurement follow different rules.

An app's growth never comes from a single channel. In-store search ads, the major platforms' app campaigns, organic store visibility and the measurement set-up all work together. On this page we look at mobile app marketing channel by channel; we describe the overall framework for ASO and niche channels on our ASO and niche channels page.

Which app campaign is used on which channel?

Each platform offers its own campaign type for promoting apps, and each one captures a different moment in the user journey. The table below summarises the main campaign types we manage and when we choose them.

What is Apple Ads and how is it managed?

Apple Ads is Apple's advertising platform for running ads in the App Store; it was formerly called Apple Search Ads. Its best-known placement is the top of App Store search results, but there are ad formats in other areas of the store too. Because users are already searching the store for apps, intent is high.

• Keyword structure: We manage brand, competitor, category and discovery keywords in separate ad groups, so the cost and quality of each group can be read on its own.
• Discovery campaign: We find new keywords with Apple's search match feature, move the ones that work into the main campaigns and exclude the ones that do not.
• Custom product pages: We link different keyword groups to custom store pages carrying screenshots and messages suited to that search.
• Organic interplay: Search ads and organic rankings share the same results page, so we assess Apple Ads data together with ASO decisions.

How do Google App campaigns work?

Google App campaigns are a campaign type in which Google automatically builds ads from the advertiser's text, image and video assets and shows them across Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and the Display Network. A campaign can be set up around goals such as installs, in-app actions or getting people to use the app again. On Android it also offers an option to collect pre-registrations before the app goes live.

In these campaigns, control lies less in choosing keywords or placements and more in the quality of the signals you provide. Choosing the right in-app event as the goal, supplying enough creative assets in different sizes and lengths, and approaching the learning period with patience are what make the difference. We explain how we manage these alongside the other campaigns in your Google account on our Google Ads page.

When do Huawei Petal Ads and AppGallery come into play?

Petal Ads is Huawei's advertising platform, used to promote apps in placements across the Huawei ecosystem, above all AppGallery. On Huawei devices without Google services, users mostly download apps through AppGallery. This audience cannot be reached with Google Play campaigns.

We do not recommend Petal Ads for every app. We decide after checking the share of these devices in the target market, whether the app is live on AppGallery and whether your measurement partner supports this source.

App campaigns on Meta and TikTok

Meta and TikTok work in feeds where users are not actively searching for an app but may recognise a need. The job here is less about capturing existing demand and more about creating it, which makes creative the single most important variable in the campaign.

On Meta, with Advantage+ app campaigns, we leave targeting largely to the system's learning and put our effort into creative variety and choosing the right event. On TikTok, we produce short videos in the platform's own language that show what the app does in the first few seconds. On both channels we work with custom store pages so that the move from ad to store page stays consistent.

Re-engagement campaigns target people who have installed the app but stopped using it. In these campaigns the ad should take the user not to the store but, through a deep link, straight to the relevant screen in the app; for example, to a product left in the basket or an unfinished sign-up. Because privacy rules on iOS limit how these audiences can be built, we plan the audience structure separately for each platform.

How is measurement done for app advertising?

Measurement for app advertising works by using a mobile measurement partner (MMP) to establish which install and which in-app action came from which campaign. An MMP is a measurement service that collects and matches data from different ad networks in one place; AppsFlyer and Adjust are well-known examples. Because the platforms' own reports can overlap, a shared referee is needed.

On iOS, measurement is shaped by privacy rules. For users who do not allow app tracking, Apple frameworks such as SKAdNetwork and its newer framework AdAttributionKit provide aggregated, delayed data rather than user-level data. Privacy-focused changes are also on the agenda for Android, so we review the measurement set-up every period against the platforms' current rules.

• Deciding which in-app events (such as sign-up, purchase or subscription start) will be used as goals
• Designing the conversion value schema for SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit around business goals
• Testing that deep links take users from the ad to the correct app screen
• Regularly explaining the differences between platform reports and MMP data

How are ASO and advertising planned together?

ASO and advertising should be planned together because they share the same store page. Advertising brings users to the store page; the decision to install is made by that page's icon, screenshots, rating and description. A weak store page raises the cost of every well-targeted ad.

We use search term and conversion data from ad campaigns in ASO decisions, and the visual and messaging findings from store page tests in ad creative. We run these tests using the App Store's product page optimisation and Google Play's store listing experiments.

How is an app advertising budget split across channels?

An app advertising budget is split first according to the audience's device mix, then according to each channel's contribution as measured through in-app events. At the start, we establish the share of your iOS and Android users, the target markets and which stores the app is live in. This picture determines which channels take part in the first test.

In the first period we give each channel a share that is enough for learning but does not put the main budget at risk. We compare channels not only on cost per install but on post-install usage and revenue indicators, because a channel that brings cheap installs may also bring users who never open the app. We reassess the split periodically, taking seasonality and campaign periods into account.

What are the common mistakes in app advertising?

• Targeting install numbers alone, without checking whether users open the app and keep using it.
• Opening budgets on several channels at once before a measurement partner is set up.
• Sending every ad to the same generic store page, whatever its message.
• Leaving creatives unchanged for too long; creative fatigue sets in quickly in app advertising.
• Comparing iOS and Android results with the same yardstick; the two platforms follow different measurement rules.

For game apps, in-game inventory is a world of its own. We cover formats such as rewarded video and playable ads on our in-game advertising page.