Which tool to measure your app campaigns
An app campaign with no measurement tool spends blind: the app stores do not tell you where installs come from, and Google Ads cannot see what happens afterwards.
The install counter is the worst possible indicator. It treats identically someone who installs, opens once and deletes, and someone who buys two days later. Without measuring post-install events, the platform optimises for the first, because that is the only one it sees.
How to choose
Do you measure after the install?
That is the only criterion that truly counts. A tool that counts installs is worthless. What you need is sign-up, first purchase, basket value, subscription.
Site and app, or app alone?
If your journey moves from the website to the app, you need a tool that follows both, otherwise you cut measurement in half in the middle of the buying journey.
Billing per install
Almost all these tools charge on volume. A campaign scaling up raises the measurement bill accordingly. Model that cost before launching, not after.
Privacy on iPhone
Apple’s rules heavily restrict what can be tracked without permission. How a tool copes with that, and what it still sees, is today the main difference between publishers.
What UNYX does
We set up app measurement and connect it to Google Ads. Without it, an app campaign spends blind.
The tools for this job
- Reference
AppsFlyer
App campaign measurement, the market benchmark.
Discover - Reference
Adjust
Measurement and attribution of app installs.
Discover - Reference
Branch
Deep links and attribution between site and app.
Discover - Reference
Singular
Campaign measurement and return on investment by channel.
Discover Kochava
App campaign measurement.
DiscoverAirbridge
Joint measurement of website and app.
Discover
The questions we get
Can we skip it at the start?
For the first few weeks, yes. As soon as monthly budget becomes significant, no: without measurement the platform optimises for worthless installs and the real cost per customer rises without explanation.
Is it the same as web attribution?
No, it is a distinct discipline, with rules set by Apple and Google and specialised players. A web attribution tool does not replace an app measurement tool.
Do these tools also handle install fraud?
Most offer detection, of varying sharpness. On campaigns bought through third-party networks it is a real subject. On Google Ads directly it is far more marginal.