App & Product Analytics
Understanding and attributing app installs accurately is something many businesses struggle with. With the rise of multiple platforms, SDKs, and advertising networks, the challenge of attributing conversions to the right sources becomes increasingly complex. The risk of duplicated attributions is big, making it essential to implement solutions that ensure precise and fair attribution. At Nimble, we guide organizations through the SKAdNetwork 4.0 landscape. We specialize in seamless setup, implementation, and education on app attribution, ensuring precise matching of advertising IDs, tech stack and integrations.
The Benefits of SKAN 4
Enhanced Attribution Precision
SKAN 4 allows for more accurate attribution of app installs by providing more detailed data and postback capabilities. This enables advertisers to identify the true source of conversions with greater accuracy.
Privacy-Preserving Advertising
SKAN 4 strikes a balance between data collection and user privacy by sending postbacks that respect Apple’s privacy thresholds. It empowers advertisers to measure campaign success while safeguarding user privacy.
Fair Attribution among Multiple Networks
With SKAN 4, multiple ad networks can receive postbacks, ensuring that even non-winning networks can access attribution data. This promotes fairness and transparency in the mobile advertising ecosystem, benefiting both advertisers and ad networks.
Platform SDKs and Attribution Challenges
Platform-specific SDKs have introduced a significant hurdle in the attribution process. Each SDK tends to operate within its own platform, leading to a natural bias towards attributing installs to the activities on their respective platforms. This siloed approach can often result in duplicated attributions, where the same conversion is attributed to multiple sources, making it difficult to analyze campaign performance.
The Solution to Duplication of Attribution
To address the issue of duplicated attributions, platforms such as Adjust offer an innovative solution through postback implementation. In this case, Adjust’s approach revolves around attributing app installs to the last ad click within the attribution lookback window. In cases where no clicks have been observed, Adjust attributes the install to the last ad view within the same window. If no ad interactions are detected, the install is considered organic. This method allows for precise attribution, significantly reducing the risk of duplicated attributions.
App Attribution and Advertising IDs
Crucial to this process is the correct matching of the advertising ID. This matching is accomplished by cross-referencing records in Adjust’s database with the advertising ID from the device that triggered the install event. When these match up correctly, the attribution is established, ensuring that installs are attributed to the appropriate source.
The Role of SKAdNetwork
Apple’s SKAdNetwork plays a pivotal role in the mobile advertising ecosystem by safeguarding user privacy. It only passes back aggregated, anonymized data to advertisers and networks. The level of information shared depends on the amount of data received by Apple. A larger dataset results in more granular information, which may include campaign ID, location, placement, time, and ad display specifics.However, SKAdNetwork has its limitations. It does not consider view-through attribution and provides no information on impressions, remarketing, user lifetime value, ROI, retention, or cohort analysis. Nonetheless, it offers a robust framework for privacy-respecting attribution.
SKAN 4.0: A Significant Opportunity
SKAdNetwork 4.0, or SKAN 4, introduces several new opportunities for channels and networks. It enables customization, optimization, and the definition of best use cases, providing more flexibility in how advertisers work with attribution data. This latest iteration focuses on empowering networks and advertisers to adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of mobile advertising
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