

What is Attribution
Attribution is the science of attributing a user to its source. Companies in the mobile apps industry (known as Mobile Measurement Partners MMP’s) such as Adjust, Appsflyer, and Singular, provide attribution technology which delivers key information on a user’s journey from a specific mobile ad to the app itself.
In the App Store and Google Play, it’s impossible to track which ad a user saw or tapped on before installing and launching an app; there’s no cookies or tracking parameters like there are on the web on the ad level.
To explain attribution step by step:
- A user is on an app or online, sees an ad and taps on it.
- A profile ID is saved by the ad network and ‘data points’ like unique identifiers, IP address and timestamp start to be monitored.
- The user is taken to the app, installs it and opens it which launches the attribution SDK installed within the app.
- Feedback including the profile ID is looped back to the MMP and the source is attributed.
Why Attribution is Important
By knowing from exactly which source users arrive (and as part of ASO understanding why they respond to some ads and not others), attribution allows UA teams to calculate how well ads and channels perform in bringing in revenues. It helps marketers justify ad spend. It provides feedback which is used to inform marketing decisions and build app product pages that convert at higher rates and drive higher quality installs, thus improving the return on ad spend (ROAS) per campaign. As you can see, attribution has a huge impact, especially on an app’s marketing budget.
Important news out of Apple recently outlined that iOS 14 coming later in 2020 will be deprecating the IDFA, the key element that the entire process of attribution depends on. The Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) allows Apple to identify a device which advertisers use to track data and enables customized advertising to users. This means that the technology behind attribution will be changing very soon.
Attribution and ASO
Mobile attribution is an important part of an overall ASO strategy. Via attribution, ASO teams can analyze which type of ad creatives engaged users and what messaging was within them to take these learnings and implement them elsewhere in the App Store and Google Play. For example, if attribution findings show that a significant volume of traffic comes from Snapchat ads and engages, retains and monetizes well, it’s possible to optimize an App Store product page to maximize conversion rates to that audience.
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- User Segmentation
- User Acquisition for Mobile Apps
- Paid App User Acquisition
- Organic User Acquisition
- Explorative Users
- Decisive Users
- App Store Update
- Supply Side Platform
- Software Development Kit (SDK)
- Soft Launch
- SKAdNetwork
- Sessions Per Active Device
- Sales Per Paying User
- Google Play Search
- Apple Search Ads
- App Store Subtitle
- App Store Seasonality
- App Store Search
- App Store Screenshots
- App Store Screenshot View Rate
- App Store Sales
- App Store Analytics: Standard Downloads
- App Store Analytics: Source Type
- App Store Analytics: App Store Sessions
- App Size
- Rewarded Video Ads
- Return on Ad spend (ROAS)
- Replicated App Store Page
- Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
- Re-engagement
- Google Play Third-party Referral
- Google Play Ranking
- App Store Web Referral
- App Store Reviews
- App Store Review Engagement Rate
- App Store Redownloads
- App Store Ratings
- App Store Ranking
- App Store App Referral
- App Store Analytics: Region
- App Retention Rate
- Product Page Conversion Rate
- Proceeds Per Paying Users
- Preloaded Apps
- Pre/Post App Store Tests
- Post-Install Event
- Playable Mobile Ads
- Performance Marketing
- Pay Per Install
- Google Play Product Page
- Google Play Personalization
- Apple’s Product Page Optimization (PPO)
- App Store Product Page Views (Unique Devices)
- App Store Product Page Views
- App Store Product Page
- App Store Proceeds
- App Store Preview Videos
- App Store Pre-Orders
- App Store Pre-Launch
- App Store Personalization
- App Store Paying Users
- App Store Page Scroll Rate
- App Store Analytics: Purchasable Item
- App Store Analytics: Product Page
- App Store Analytics: Pre Orders
- App Store Analytics: Platform Version
- App Store Analytics: Page Type
- Monthly Active Users (MAU)
- Mobile Growth
- Mobile Game Monetization
- Mobile Game Marketing
- Mobile Game Business Model
- Mobile Delivery Platform
- Mobile Bid Adjustment
- Mobile Attribution Window
- Mobile Attribution Manipulation
- Mobile App Retention
- Mobile App Onboarding
- Mobile App Monetization
- Mobile App Advertising
- Mobile Ad Viewability
- Mobile Ad Fraud
- Mobile App Growth
- Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU)
- Average Revenue Per Daily Engaged User (ARPDEU)
- Average Revenue Per Daily Active User (ARPDAU)
- ARPU – Average Revenue Per User
- Apple Arcade
- Apple App Store Connect
- App Store Optimization (ASO)
- App Store Audience Testing
- App Store Analytics: App Version
- App Store Analytics: App Store Active Devices
- App Store Analytics: App Referrer
- App Store Analytics: Active In Last 30 Days
- App Store Acquisition Channels
- App Store A/B testing
- Ad Unit
- Ad Server
- Ad Revenue
- Ad Network
- Ad Mediation
- Ad Impression
- Ad Exchange
- A/B Testing Statistics
- Keyword Localization
- K-Factor
- Google Play Keywords
- App Store Keywords Research
- App Store Keywords
- App Store and Google Play Keywords Optimization
- Interstitial Ads
- Interactive Ads
- Installs Per Mille (IPM)
- In-App Events
- In-App Bidding
- In-App Advertising
- Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA)
- App Store In-App Purchases
- App Store Impressions (Unique Devices)
- App Store Impressions
- App Store Icon
- App Store Analytics: Installations
- App Install Rates
- App Influencer Marketing
- Growth Loop
- Google Play Points
- Google Play Pass
- Google Play Experiments
- Google Play Developer Console
- Google Advertising ID (GAID)
- Gametech (Game Technology)
- Game Bundles
- Google Play Short Description
- Google Play Long Description
- Deep Linking
- Daily Active Users (DAU)
- App Store Description Read Rate
- App Store App Description
- App Store Analytics: Device
- App Store Analytics: App Store Deletions
- App Store Analytics: App Download Date
- Google Play Creatives
- CTR (Click Through Rate)
- Cross Promotion
- Cost Per View (CPV)
- Cost Per Mille (CPM)
- Cost per Install
- Cost Per Engagement (CPE)
- Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Cost Per Action (CPA)
- Churn Rate
- Casual Games
- Apple’s Custom Product Pages
- App Store Culturalization
- App Store Creatives
- App Store Conversion Rate
- App Store Categories
- App Store Analytics: Campaign
- App Store Analytics: App Store Crashes
- App Conversion Rate
- App Clip Sessions
- App Clip Installations
- App Clip Crashes
- App Clip Card Views (Unique)
- App Clip Card Views
- App Clip Active Devices
Related Terms
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Cost per Install
Cost per install (CPI) is the term that describes the pricing model of mobile user acquisition (UA) efforts to drive installations.
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App Store Product Page
The App Store product page is the landing page for a mobile app or game distributed and published on Apple’s App Store.
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App Store Acquisition Channels
App Store Acquisition Channels are all the potential channels that user acquisition (UA) teams can utilize, to advertise an app or game and generate more visitors.
Related Resources

The Complete Guide to Attribution and ASO
