Programmatic Display & Ad Networks for App Install Advertisers
We have recently been working more frequently with app-based businesses.
Their primary marketing objective has been to drive installs that ultimately result in their products being purchased (most often within the app).
The most common situation that we’ve faced when app businesses first engage with us is that they have been utilising app install networks.
App install networks are companies which sell app installs on a Cost Per Install basis.
Ideal! You might think…
The majority of these entities will only run “blind” buying that is, you agree a price and set your budget. You then send over your tracked app store URL and they provide the installs at that price but in return you’re not given much in the way of “how they did it” or “where they come from”.
The mobile app install world is littered with stories of high equity brands being seen on adult websites or browser hijackers. We’ve also encountered cases of advertisers asking specifically for video units to be run (obviously at a higher rate) but in reality a static creative is run and the ad network profits the difference.
Not so ideal then.
But there is one much larger problem at play that is not spoken about. You will not find this information anywhere else on the internet so read closely.
The biggest question you might ask about a mobile app install network is:
“How can they guarantee a fixed cost per install?”
The reason this is possible is due to the method mobile app install networks actually generate (read: misattribute) installs.
Lets create a scenario that you might be familiar with.
You are a business with an app. Your app enables prospective customers to purchase your product or service
i.e it’s important.
You’ve got a mobile tracking partner that you’ve setup and your attribution window is 28 days post-click.
You engage a mobile app install network to deliver 10,000 app installs for you in the US on Android for a price of $3 per install.
Sounds like a good deal? Well…
The way in which an install is to be awarded to that mobile app install network is that a user must click that link and then install your app.
Your Mobile Measurement Partner(MMP) then conducts its attribution cycle and if no other clicks elsewhere have followed that click, the mobile app install network is awarded that install earning themselves $3.
However…
A click tracking link does not have to only be activated the click of a human. It can be configured, in the right creative format to be triggered when the creative is viewed - similar to an impression tracking URL. A common symptom of this is mobile app install networks ability to drive extremely high click volumes. Almost at the level you might expect impressions to be at…
What does that mean then?
It means your carefully considered and enacted attribution window of 28 days post-click has now become a lovely 28 days post-view as well. This means a mobile app install network can take advantage of just showing your ad to people and collect the credit (in the form of $3).
This is extremely typical.
A piece of advice:
If a mobile app install network you engage with refuses to use an impression tracking URL or tells you
“only some of our publishers support impression tracking”
they are engaging in this method of misattribution.
Why Programmatic solves these problems
Programmatic advertising is actually being used by the mobile app install networks. Its highly likely they are buying from some of the same sources as a transparent, legitimate entity (such as ourselves) would be buying from. The difference is, that to deliver on their enticing offer a fixed price install they must skirt around the established method of crediting entities for generating installs.
Legitimately used Programmatic Advertising allows you to always see where your ads were run. How many impressions were bought there, whether they resulted in clicks and ultimately if they drove an install. The difference is, as discussed in xxthisxx article a proper method of measurement must be employed to do so.
But, these won’t be on a fixed price will they?
No they will not. However, it seems a fairly reasonable trade-off to know that your business, that precious brand equity that you have been building up arduously over time isn’t being sullied by a bad actor looking to profiteer from you. Done correctly, you may also find that legitimately used Programmatic Display installs cost nearly the same as what they would from a mobile app install network.
Adding Programmatic to Network heavy campaigns
There are two things we wish to be careful of:
The first is that not all mobile app install networks act completely in this way. The data we have seen shows that all have the aforementioned method running in some degree. But we totally understand that it is extremely convenient to only pay for the install rather than the impression.
The second is that there can be some value to keeping mobile app install networks active across your campaign because they do provide installs that lead to product purchases.
But after reading the above, let’s assume you are now interested in running a legitimate programmatic display partner.
Below is our best practice to having both live.
1. Correct attribution: Enable a 1 day viewthrough window on your campaign. Programmatic display is the automated buying of impressions so it’s reasonable to include their measurement as part of your attribution ideology.
2. Use your MMP features. Many MMP’s offer the feature of assisted install reporting (viewthrough required). These are reports which demonstrate whether a particular entity helped generate an install but did not receive credit for doing so. Display is highly subject to this happening so being able to see it helps you understand the role its playing in a prospects journey to purchasing your product (and which entities might be stealing installs to attribute to themselves!).
3. Transparency. Receiving monthly reporting of where your ads were run so you can understand what kind of apps or sites resonate well with your audience. The weirder the better! It may also help you hone in on where mobile app installs networks might be showing your ads and allow you to provide the direction of not running there (if its not what you want).
So there we are! A veritable goldmine of information (if we do say so ourselves) on how to execute proper mobile app install campaigns utilising Programmatic display.