If you use Google Ads to promote Android or iOS mobile apps, you can use conversion tracking to help you learn how effectively your ads lead to app installs and in-app activity. This article explains the different types of mobile conversions and how to track them.
Learn how to Set up App campaigns for pre-registration, installs, or engagement.
On this page
- Benefits of mobile app conversion tracking
- When to use mobile app conversion tracking
- Considerations around mobile app conversion tracking
Benefits of mobile app conversion tracking
Mobile app conversion tracking helps you understand the effectiveness of your app campaigns for your Android and iOS apps.
- Track app installs and first open: Conversion tracking can measure how effectively your ads are leading people to install your mobile apps. Apart from learning how many people are viewing your ads and taking action by installing your app, you can also track the number of people who open your app after installing in response to your ads. This is captured by default using Firebase or most third-party app analytics providers.
- Track In-app actions: Use conversion tracking to measure your campaigns' effectiveness. You can track custom in-app actions using Firebase or any third-party app analytics provider by adding the relevant code to your app.
- Seamless web-to-app integration: After you set up app conversion tracking, you can use Web to App Connect to provide a seamless web-to-app experience for your customers. This helps you drive on an average 2 times higher conversion rates for ad clicks landing in your app compared to your mobile website. Learn more about Web to App Connect.
When to use mobile app conversion tracking
You can use this feature to track different conversions. For Android apps, there are several conversions you can track automatically from Google Play without adding tracking code to your app, such as:
- Downloads: Automatically track when someone who clicked your ad downloads your app from the Google Play store.
- In-app purchases: Automatically track when someone who clicked your ad performs an in-app purchase for apps that use Google Play’s in-app billing.
- Pre-registrations: Automatically track when someone who clicked your ad pre-registers for your app or game from the Google Play store.
Considerations around mobile app conversion tracking
Security and privacy for conversion and event tracking
Google has strict security standards. Google Ads only collects data on sites and apps where you have configured tracking.
Ensure that you provide users with clear and comprehensive information about the data you collect on your sites, apps, and other properties. Make sure that you also get consent where required by law or any applicable Google policies governing user consent, including Google’s EU User Consent Policy.
Target CPA bidding for apps
Since these campaigns are optimized to count app downloads, there isn’t a waiting period for Target CPA. As soon as you've set up conversion tracking, you can use Target CPA bidding to help get more installs at your cost-per-install goal.
Video ad conversion tracking for apps
Conversion tracking is unique for video ads, and billing varies depending on where it’s shown.
Engaged-view conversion:
- Counted when someone watches at least 10 seconds of a video ad on YouTube or the Display Network.
- App download conversions are counted only if the install happens within 2 days of the engagement.
- Click-through conversions:
- Counted if people who click on the ad install the app within 30 days.
- Billing:
- YouTube: Billed for each impression
- Display Network: Billed for each engagement
Reporting for App campaigns on iOS and Android
To offer a more complete report of iOS and Android app campaign conversions, we may use privacy-safe data from models based on users who have previously signed into Google services. These models predict iOS and Android app conversions that we're unable to observe directly. This allows us to provide complete reporting on iOS and Android app campaign behavior that combines observed and modeled conversions.