App Store Ads Marketing Glossary - ASA Definitions

A

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is a metric used to measure the average amount of revenue generated by each user who interacts with the app through advertising, in-app purchases, or other monetization methods.

active user

An active user is someone who regularly uses an app and engages with its features, content, or functionality. In other words, an active user is someone who has not only downloaded an app but also continues to use it on a regular basis.

Attribution Fraud

Attribution fraud is a type of mobile ad fraud that involves manipulating the way app installs are attributed to various marketing campaigns.

App Tracking Transparency (ATT)

App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is a privacy feature introduced by Apple in iOS 14.5 and later versions.

App Store Optimization (ASO)

App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of optimizing mobile apps to rank higher in an app store's search results. It involves optimizing various elements of an app's listing, such as the title, description, keywords, and screenshots, to improve

Apple Search Ads(ASA)

Apple Search Ads are a type of mobile app advertising that allows developers to promote their apps within the App Store search results.

Average Daily Spend

The average amount spent each day, or spend divided by the number of days shown in the date range on the Apple Search Ads Advanced Campaigns dashboard.

Average Cost-Per-Thousand-Impressions (Avg CPM)

The average amount an Apple Search Ads Advanced advertiser pays per one thousand ad impressions on the App Store.

Average Cost-Per-Tap (Avg CPT)

Cost Per Tap is a key metric of Apple Search Ads bidding, the Avg CPT is thus an important reference for ASA users make decisions in ad campaigns.

Average Cost-Per-Acquisition (Avg CPA)

Total Apple Search Ads Advanced campaign spend divided by the number of installs (downloads) received within a period.

Audience Settings

Apple Search Ads Advanced targeting criteria, including customer types, demographics (age and gender), locations, and devices (iPhone or iPad).

Attribution Window

The maximum time allowed between an ad tap or impression and a conversion when performing attribution. The attribution window for Apple Search Ads is 30 days.

Attribution API

The Apple Ads Attribution API enables you to measure and attribute app downloads that originate from Apple Search Ads app promotions and campaigns.

Attribution

The act of crediting a user action, such as a download, to a particular app promotion or campaign.

App Review Process

The process Apple uses to review any new app before it appears on the App Store. The reviews are designed to ensure that an app performs well.

App Ratings

Ratings and reviews provided by App Store customers to give feedback on their app experiences and help others decided which apps they'd like to try.

API Read Only Limited Access Role

An Apple Search Ads Advanced role with permission limited to specific campaigns groups.

API Read & Write Limited Access Role

An Apple Search Ads Advanced role with permission limited to specific campaign groups. The role is set for people who only work for one certain ad campaign group.

API Account Read Only Role

An Apple Search Ads Advanced role with permission to view reporting and data across the account with read only permission, and manage an API connection.

API Account Manager Role

An Apple Search Ads Advanced user role with permission to view reporting and manage all campaigns across the account with read and write capabilities, and manage an API connection.

API

API stands for application programming interface, and allows two software platforms to interact with each other.

App Store Connect

App Store Connect is the platform used to upload, submit, and manage apps on the App Store via the web or iOS.

Ads Dashboard

The Apple Search Ads Advanced dashboard shows current and historical performance data for all ad variations, including your default ad and custom ads.

Ad Variation

Ad Variation is a search results ad with creative in Apple Search Ads Advanced based on a custom product page you've set up in App Store Connect.

Ad Mark

Ad Mark is the blue background and ad disclosure icon of all ads on the App Store.

Ad Group

Ad Group is the place where bids and audience settings. Ad groups in the Search tab only include audience and bid parameters.

Ad Status

The indicator that shows whether a default ad or ad variation (custom ad) is active, paused, incompatible, disabled, on hold, unsupported, or deleted.

Ad Placement

Ad Placement is the place on App Store where your ad appears. It's the core of Apple Search Ads for all of the campaigns are around the visibility of the app.

Account Read Only Role

An Apple Search Ads user role with permission to view reporting and data across the account.

Account Finance Role

ASA Account Finance Role is important with some permission to access account settings and manage the bill.

Account Admin Role

ASA Account Admin Role is important with some permission to access the bidding ASA account settings and is a very important role for ASA bidding performance.

B

Brand Safety

Brand safety refers to the measures taken to protect a brand's reputation and ensure that its advertisements are displayed in a suitable context.

Budget Order

An option for pre-approved Apple Search Ads Advanced advertisers who are paying via monthly invoicing.

Broad Match

A keyword setting in Apple Search Ads Advanced search results campaigns that helps control how ads are matched to user searches on the App Store.

Billing Event

In the Apple Search Ads Advanced campaign settings template and the Campaign Management API, billing event is the billable action that must occur for a campaign to be charged.

Bid

Your maximum cost-per-tap (or cost-per-install) bid is the maximum amount you're willing to pay for a tap (or a download) on your ad.

Bid Strength

An indicator of our assessment of the competitiveness of your Apple Search Ads Advanced search results bid, displayed as a red, yellow, or green bar associated with each keyword.

C

Cost per Subscription

Cost per Conversion

Tells you how much, on average, each of your conversions cost

Cost per Goal

Cost per Goal (CPG) is the average cost of conversion actions you included into Goals.

Churn Rate

Churn rate is a metric used to measure the rate at which users stop using or engaging with a product or service over a specific period of time.

Cost Per Action (CPA)

CPA is a pricing model in which marketers pay ad networks or media sources for specific conversions (such as a purchase or registration) that occur within an app following engagement with an ad.

CPA (cost-per-acquisition)

CPA is a digital advertising metric that represents the average cost of acquiring one customer or lead. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of a campaign by the number of conversions (i.e., customers or leads) generated.

Cost Per Mille (CPM)

Cost Per Mille/Thousand(CPM) is a marketing term that refers to the cost of displaying an advertisement to one thousand viewers or impressions. The "M" in CPM stands for "mille," which means "a thousand" in Latin.

Click fraud

Click fraud is a type of fraud in which bad actors force clicks in order to increase revenue (in the case of ad networks or publishers/websites) or drain advertising budgets on click-based campaigns (such as PPC, CPC, CPI, etc.).

Click Hijacking

Click hijacking is a technique used by some unscrupulous individuals to deceive website visitors into clicking on a button or link that takes them to a different website than the one they intended to visit.

Cost Per Tap (CPT)

Cost-per-Tap (CPT), also known as Cost-per-Click (CPC), is a digital advertising model in which advertisers pay a fee each time a user clicks on one of their ads.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV or CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLTV or CLV) is known as lifetime value (LTV), and refers to the profit margin a company expects to earn over the entire time it has a business relationship with an average customer.

Click Through Rate

Click through rate (CTR) is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of an online advertisement or email campaign. It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks on the ad or email by the number of impressions or views it received.

Cost Per Install

Cost per install (CPI) is a metric used to measure the cost of acquiring a new user for a mobile app or game. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of advertising by the number of installs generated from the campaign.

Custom Reports

A reporting option in Apple Search Ads Advanced that allows you to set report granularity; run expansive queries for key metrics at the keyword, ad group...

Custom Product Page

An additional version of your App Store product page that highlights specific app features or content and has a unique URL.

Creative Source

An Apple Search Ads Advanced reporting dimension that indicates the source of an ad’s creative. This could be a custom product page, or a default product page.

Conversion Rate (CR)

The total number of Apple Search Ads Advanced installs received within a period divided by total number of taps within the same period.

Campaigns Dashboard

The first page Apple Search Ads Advanced advertisers see when you sign in to your account.

Campaign Settings Template

For ASA Advanced advertisers who don't use Campaign Management API, the campaign settings template offers an easy way to update multiple campaigns & ad groups.

Campaign Management API

An API that Apple Search Ads Advanced developers, agencies, and third-party platforms can use to build software that manages campaigns and reports.

Campaign Group

Campaign groups can include one or more Apple Search Ads Advanced campaigns, and are useful for agencies managing multiple clients.

Campaign

A set of ad groups that share a budget, location targeting, and other settings in Apple Search Ads Advanced.

D

Download Rate

Download rate refers to the number of times an app is downloaded in a given time period, typically measured as a percentage of the total number of app views or clicks.

Daily Active Users (DAU)

Daily Active Users (DAU) is a metric used to measure the number of unique users who engage with an app or platform on a daily basis.

Deep Linking

Deep linking is a hyperlink, or deep link URL, that directs a user to a specific piece of in-app content.

Description

In App Store, it refers to a body of text no longer than 4000 characters in length that is used to offer more extensive information about an app and is accessible from the app listing page.

Daily Active Users(DAU)

Daily Active Users(DAU) refers to an estimate of the number of active users of an app on any given day.

Dynamic Product Ads

Dynamic Product Ads are ad templates that are personalized according to the individual consumer's data: making them more useful, more welcome, and significantly more effective.

Default Ad

To promote your app in search results, Apple Search Ads automatically creates a default image and text ad using the first few screenshots and app previews taken from the App Store product page.

Daily Budget

The average amount allocated for an Apple Search Ads Advanced campaign to spend each day over the course of a month.

E

Effective Cost per Mille (eCPM)

The term eCPM stands for 'effective cost per mille' and is used to describe the ad revenue generated per 1,000 ad impressions.

Emulated Devices

A device emulator is a program or hardware device that allows a computer system to emulate another device.

ETL

ETL is an acronym that stands for extract, transform, and load. These are the three processes in data warehousing that aggregate data from several diverse data sources.

Engagement

An app engagement is an interaction between a user and a mobile application or app.

Exact Match

A keyword setting in Apple Search Ads Advanced search results campaigns that provides for the tightest control over searches where your ad may appear.

F

Freemium

A term used to describe free programs that require in-app purchases to unlock the majority of its content.

Fake Installs

A mobile ad fraud tactic that is accomplished by fraudsters who use device emulation software in virtualized environments (on server hardware) to fake installs.

Fractional Attribution

Fractional attribution is when credit is given to multiple sources for an install.

G

Goals

The measurement of some conversion action an individual user has done within your app and which is the most crucial to you within all the rest of conversions. The Goals column reports total number of goals, across those conversion actions you’ve cho

Geofencing

Geofencing is a virtual radius that mobile marketers use to deliver specific advertising to potential buyers inside a certain geographic region.

Gross Rating Point (GRP)

Gross rating point (GRP) is a common metric in traditional ad buying that measures the impact of a given ad campaign.

Goods and Services Tax

A value-added tax levied on most goods and services in countries such as India and Malaysia.

General Data Protection Regulation

Protects the data and privacy of all individual within the European Union.

H

Hypotheses

In app marketing, App Store Test Hypotheses are firm intents that will be verified or disproven at the end of an A/B testing phase, allowing for more inquiry.

I

Impressions

Impressions refer to the number of times an ad is displayed on a user's screen. In mobile app advertising, impressions are used as a metric to measure the reach and visibility of an ad campaign.

Installs per Mille (IPM)

IPM stands for Installs per Mille. It is a metric that is used to track the number of app installs per thousand ad impressions. It is often used as part of a mobile advertising or user acquisition strategy which aims to buy new users for an app.

In-App Purchase

In-app purchases (IAPs) is any price that is paid in addition to the cost of installing the app on a smartphone or tablet.

Inventory

The amount of ad space (or the number of adverts) that a publisher has available to sell is referred to as inventory.

Interstitial Ad

An interstitial ad is a full-screen ad that covers the entire interface of the host app.

Impression Share

The share of impressions your Apple Search Ads Advanced search results ad(s) received from the total impressions served on the same search terms or keywords.

IDFA/IFA

Apple's identifier for advertisers. This alphanumeric string is unique to each device when serving advertisements.

K

Keyword Density

The number of times a keyword occurs on a specific webpage or within a piece of content as a ratio or percentage of the overall word count is referred to as keyword density.

Keyword Optimization

The process of locating, selecting, and refining keywords in order to identify the best possible collection of keywords to represent an app in app stores.

Keyword Cannibalization

Keyword cannibalization is the practice of positioning advertisements above organic search results. In other words, you are paying for traffic that would have been generated naturally.

KPI

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics that are used to assess the performance of a mobile application and the broader business that surrounds it.

Keyword

In your Apple Search Ads Advanced ad groups, you can add keywords that you think your customers would search for on the App Store.

L

Limit Ad Tracking (LAT)

Limit Ad Tracking（LAT）is a setting on IOS devices that allows users to opt out of being tracked by advertisers for personalized advertising purposes.

Localization

The act of modifying and refining an app to appeal to a geographically particular target market is known as app localization.

Low Volume

An Apple Search Ads Advanced term that appears if the data you're requesting to see within a performance chart is below Apple's privacy threshold.

Locations

Apple Search Ads Advanced supports location refinement in many regions. The feature ensures you don’t use budget showing ads for searches occurring outside of those areas.

Lifetime Budget

The total amount an advertiser wanted to spend on an Apple Search Ads Advanced campaign. Campaigns created prior to June 2022 can retain lifetime budget.

Last Click/Last Tap Attribution

An attribution model that gives all the conversion credit to the last touch-point a prospect experiences before downloading.

M

Monthly Active Users (MAU)

The number of unique users who interact with your app in a 30-day period. MAU, as opposed to DAU, is typically used by travel or financial apps where users are expected to interact a few times per month or less (e.g. banking apps).

Mobile Attribution

Mobile attribution is the process of tracking and analyzing user behavior within mobile apps to determine the sources of user acquisition and the actions that lead to conversions.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation refers to any method that uses software to carry out marketing operations automatically.

Mobile Ad Fraud

The use of mobile advertising technologies to deceive advertisers, publishers, or supply partners is known as mobile ad fraud.

M-Commerce

M-commerce, which stands for mobile commerce, refers to any commercial transactions that take place using applications or mobile websites.

Multi-Touch Attribution

An attribution model that gives varying values to multiple publishers or advertising partners who have touched the user as they move through the conversion funnel and download an app.

Mobile Measurement Provider (MMP)

A third-party expert hired by advertisers and marketers. MMPs interact with various marketing channels independently to count app installs and measure post-install events.

Metadata

App title and description within a product page on the App Store. Apple Search Ads depends on metadata to create and serve ads on the App Store.

N

Non-organic install (NOI)

A non-organic install (NOI) is an app download that occurred as a result of marketing activity (e.g. a paid or owned media campaign).

Native Advertising

Native advertising is paid media that is tailored to the content of a media source.

New Downloads

App downloads from new users who have never before download your app.

Negative Keyword

A term in an Apple Search Ads Advanced search results campaign or ad group that prevents your ad from appearing for certain App Store searches.

O

Organic User

Users who arrived via organic search results. These people discover your app through search searches and are the most likely to spend money on your app.

Offerwall

An offerwall is a kind of app monetization that pays users for performing particular objectives.

Organic Install

Organic installations are any program installs that cannot be traced back to a specific install source.

P

Private Marketplace (PMP)

A Private Marketplace, or PMP, is an invitation-only advertising exchange where publishers offer their inventory to a select group of buyers, typically via programmatic advertising technology.

Page Scroll Rate

The percentage of customers that scroll down an App Store product page in the direction of the reviews section is referred to as the App Store page scroll rate.

Pre Orders

Apple permits app developers to offer pre-order applications, which are programs that are available for purchase up to 90 days before their official release date.

Push Notification

Push notifications are communications that may be sent to a user's mobile device directly.

Product Page Optimization (PPO)

The process of optimizing the content and structure of an App Store product page to make it more appealing to customers and potentially help boost organic listings for the app.

Personalized Ads setting

A user setting that determines whether audience information, such as age, gender, app downloads, or purchases, may be used to help improve relevance of Apple-delivered ads.

Q

Query

Query means the words or phrase that a user enters into the App Store search engine. Marketers target keywords for optimization.

R

Reattributed Reinstalls

Reattributed Reinstalls (app installs from MMP)

Return on Investment(ROI)

Return on Investment(ROI) is a performance metric used to evaluate the profitability and efficiency of an investment. It measures the return or profit gained from an investment in relation to the cost of that investment.

Real-time Bidding (RTB)

Real-time Bidding (RTB) refers to a process that allows advertisers to bid in real-time for ad impressions on different ad exchanges.

Re-engagement

Re-engagement is the process of encouraging users who have previously downloaded or used your app to return and engage with it again. This can be achieved through a variety of marketing and engagement strategies that aim to re-activate users who hav

Retention Rate

Retention rate is the percentage of users who continue to use your app over a given period of time. It is an essential metric for measuring app engagement and success, as it provides insight into how many users are returning to use your app on a reg

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

The ratio of revenue generated by an advertiser's investment in Apple Search Ads. Campaign (or app promotion) revenue divided by ad cost x 100.

Relevance

The way Apple Search Ads measures how closely an ad matches the context of a search query.

Redownloads

Redownloads, including prior consumers in your audience, can assist to rekindle interest in your app, boost growth, and generate more income.

Recommendations Page

A page within Apple Search Ads Advanced that provides personalized recommendations for search results campaign keywords, bids, and daily budget.

Rank

How an app ranks in terms of impression share compared to other apps in the same countries and regions.

S

Suggested Default Max CPT Bid

A feature for Apple Search Ads Advanced search results campaigns is the suggestion for a bid amount.

Suggested Bid Range

Suggested Bid Range appears alongside each existing keyword and indicates our suggestion for where your maximum cost-per-tap (max CPT) bid should fall.

Second Price Auction

A bidding model in which each advertiser bids individually and the highest bidder is successful, but they only pay the price offered by the advertiser with the second highest bid.

Search Terms Tab

The tab within any Apple Search Ads Advanced search results campaign or ad group that provides insights into bidded keyword and Search Match performance metrics.

Search Term

A keyword or phrase that people have used to find the particular type of app they're looking for on the App Store.

Search Tab Ad

An ad created with Apple Search Ads Advanced that appears at the top of the suggested apps list on the App Store Search tab.

Search Results Ad

An ad created with Apple Search Ads that appears in search results on the App Store.

Search Popularity

A relative indicator of a keyword's popularity. Search popularity is displayed as numbers from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most popular.

Search Match

A Search Ads feature for search results campaigns that allows ads to be matched automatically to search terms without requiring the advertiser to figure out all keyword possibilities.

Sapin Law

It requires that only the advertiser who owns both the app and the Apple Search Ads account can promote an app on the App Store in France.

T

Tracker

A tracker is a campaign tracking link in mobile measurement. To assess campaign performance, a mobile marketer must include a tracker in the campaign.

Temporary Attribution

Temporary attribution is a time-sensitive technique that allows UA administrators to choose how their data is displayed.

Taps

The number of times the ad was tapped by users within a particular time period.

Tap-Through Rate (TTR)

The number of times your Apple Search Ads Advanced ad was tapped by customers divided by the total impressions your ad received.

U

URL

The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a set of instructions for finding a webpage.

User Acquisition

User acquisition (abbreviated UA) is the process of acquiring new users for an app, platform, or other services.

V

Video Watch Rate

The percentage of people that begin viewing a video on a product page is referred to as the video watch rate.

Visibility

App store visibility improves by using ASO. Apps that rank well for a large number of popular and relevant keywords have significant visibility.

View-Through Attribution

View-through attribution, also known as impression tracking, is the term we use to demonstrate that one impression resulted in a subsequent install.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

A tax that applies to transactions in certain countries or regions.

W

Web Referrer

A feature in App Store Connect, this filter will help you determine where traffic to your App Store product pages is coming from.

Apple Search Ads Definitions & Glossary