Advertising an App: Apple Ads and Google App Campaigns

Before you spend anything

Both platforms send people to your store listing, or build the ad from it. Apple's ad placement options page says ads "are created using the metadata and assets you already uploaded in App Store Connect", and Google's About App campaigns page says its system tests combinations that include assets from your app's store listing. So the listing comes first: name, subtitle, screenshots and previews are covered in our app store optimization guide.

Second, decide what counts as success. An install is easy to count; a sign-up, a purchase or a returning user tells you more. Both platforms can optimise for actions after the install, but only if you measure them, which is covered below.

Apple Ads: Basic or Advanced

Apple's Compare Apple Ads solutions page describes two products "designed for varying levels of expertise, resources, budget, and experience with app marketing":

• Apple Ads Basic runs ads in App Store search results only. There are no keywords or audience settings: you set your goals and Apple's automation matches the ad to users. It uses a cost-per-install model, where you pay only for installs at a cost you choose. Apple lists a maximum budget of $10,000 (U.S.) per app per month and up to 50 apps, with a quick-view dashboard for reporting.
• Apple Ads Advanced is for developers, advertisers and agencies. It can run on all four placements, lets you choose keywords, use an auto-bidder, align ads with custom product pages and set the most you will pay for a tap. It uses a cost-per-tap model, with daily budgets and no budget maximum, plus detailed reports and the Apple Ads Platform API.

Both include the AdServices Attribution API, which Apple lists for measuring results. Basic suits a single app owner who wants to switch ads on and leave them; Advanced suits anyone who wants to manage keywords, placements and creative.

Where Apple Ads appear

Apple's placement page lists four Advanced placements. Apple notes that some app categories aren't eligible for some placements, and that this can vary by country or region.

• Today tab: on the front page of the App Store. The ad shows your app name, icon and subtitle, and uses a custom product page as the tap destination.
• Search tab: at the top of the suggested apps list, before someone searches.
• Search results: shown when someone searches. Apple's search results page explains two ways to match searches: Maximize Conversions, which uses Search Match to find search terms automatically, and Manage Bids, where you pick keywords and bids yourself. Apple says Maximize Conversions is currently designed for post-launch campaigns, so an app in pre-order should use manual bidding.
• Product pages, while browsing: at the top of the "You Might Also Like" list at the bottom of other apps' product pages. Apple says this placement isn't available in mainland China.

On ranking, Apple says a search results ad depends on both your app's relevance to the search and your bid, and that an app that isn't relevant "won't be displayed — regardless of how much you may be willing to pay". You can't choose or bid for a particular ad position.

Custom product pages as ad variations

A custom product page is an extra version of your App Store page with its own screenshots, app previews and promotional text. Apple's ad variations page says you can build up to 70 of them in App Store Connect without submitting a new app version; you need the Marketing role on the App Store Connect account.

In an Advanced search results ad group you can then create an ad variation from one of these pages. The ad uses that page's creative, and people who tap it land on the same page. Apple says each ad group can have one active custom ad; a default ad built from your normal product page runs wherever you haven't made a variation. A custom product page can also carry a deep link to a specific place in your app, which Apple says works on devices running iOS or iPadOS 18 and later. Our deep links guide covers how those links are set up in the app.

A simple use: one page and ad variation per keyword theme. A recipe app could have one set of screenshots for "meal planner" searches and another for "healthy recipes". To test listing versions against each other with random traffic, see our guide to testing app store listings.

Google App campaigns

Google's About App campaigns page says App campaigns promote apps across Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and the Google Display Network. You don't design separate ads per network: you provide text, a starting bid and budget, languages, locations and assets, and Google tests combinations and serves the ones that perform best. Before you start, Google says the app must be published on Google Play or the Apple App Store and the account needs a payment method.

There are three types: campaigns for installs, for engagement (bringing people who already have the app back to it), and for pre-registration (sign-ups on Google Play before launch).

Google's setup page for install campaigns walks through the steps: create a new campaign with the goal App promotion and subtype App installs, choose Android or iOS and find your app, set locations and languages, then budget, bidding and assets. Google notes that it does not translate your ads, so target only languages your ads are written in, and suggests putting the operating system in the campaign name. Each campaign is set up for one platform, Android or iOS.

Bidding goals and assets

When you set bidding, you choose what the campaign optimises for and which install and in-app events count. Depending on settings, Google may offer a target cost per install, target cost per action or target return on ad spend, or Maximize conversions without a target.

Google's best practices guide for App campaigns gives starting rules:

• To build a user base, optimise for install volume, set a target cost per install based on the average value of a new user, and set a daily budget of at least 50 times that target.
• To optimise for an in-app action, pick an action completed by at least 10 different users per day in the campaign, set a target cost per action based on the value of a user who completes it, and budget at least 10 times that target per day.

For assets, the guide says you can include up to 10 text, 20 image and 20 video assets per ad group (and 20 HTML5 assets for games), and recommends using all the slots. It suggests short standalone text phrases of varying length, images that fill the frame with little text, and videos of 10 to 30 seconds in portrait, landscape and square formats. If assets were created or edited with AI, Google points to AI labelling rules in the EU, India and New York and to its AI label setting.

For search ads that point to your website rather than the app, see Google Ads basics.

Measuring installs and in-app actions

Google's mobile app conversion tracking page describes what can be measured:

• Android, without code: downloads, in-app purchases made through Google Play's billing, and pre-registrations can be tracked automatically from Google Play.
• In-app actions: custom actions such as a sign-up are tracked with Firebase or a third-party app analytics provider, by adding the relevant code to your app.
• iOS: Google points to the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK, which it says integrates with SKAdNetwork, Apple's privacy-preserving framework for measuring iOS campaigns.

Google also says to tell users clearly what data you collect and to get consent where the law or Google's policies require it. On Apple's side, Basic and Advanced both include the AdServices Attribution API, which Apple lists for measuring results.

Plan these events with the rest of your app analytics, so the sign-up an ad optimises for is the same one your reports count. Our mobile app analytics guide covers choosing events, consent and Apple's App Tracking Transparency.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Apple Ads Basic and Advanced?

Apple says Basic runs only in App Store search results, has no keywords or audience settings and charges per install, with a budget of up to $10,000 (U.S.) per app per month. Advanced runs on four placements, lets you choose keywords and custom product pages, and charges per tap with no budget maximum.

Can a Google App campaign promote an iPhone app?

Yes. Google says the app must be published on Google Play or the Apple App Store. You choose Android or iOS when you set up the campaign.

Do I need Firebase to run App campaigns?

Not for every goal. Google says Android downloads, Google Play in-app purchases and pre-registrations can be tracked automatically from Google Play. Custom in-app actions need Firebase or a third-party app analytics provider, and for iOS Google points to the Firebase SDK.

Can a higher bid buy the top spot in App Store search?

No. Apple says search results ads depend on both relevance and bid, an app that isn't relevant to the search won't be shown whatever the bid, and you can't select or bid for a particular ad position.

Planning an app and its launch, including the analytics that ad campaigns depend on? See our mobile app development service and all our services, or email [email protected].