Mobile attribution glossary

Ad mediation lets an app offer its ad space to several ad networks through one SDK, so each impression goes to the highest-paying source.

Ad revenue attribution assigns the money an app earns from showing ads to the campaign or source that acquired each user, so ROAS counts it too.

AdAttributionKit is Apple's privacy-preserving ad attribution framework for iOS, built on SKAdNetwork with added capabilities such as re-engagement.

App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is Apple's framework that requires an iOS app to ask permission before tracking a user across other companies' apps.

An attribution window is the maximum time allowed between an ad click or view and an install for the ad to receive credit for that install.

Click injection and click flooding are fraud techniques that fake ad clicks to steal credit for installs the fraudster did not cause.

Cohort analysis groups users by a shared starting point, usually install date, and compares how each group behaves over time, such as retention.

A consent management platform (CMP) collects users' privacy choices and passes them to the SDKs and partners that process their data.

A conversion value is a small number an iOS app sets after install so that SKAdNetwork postbacks can describe what the user did after installing.

Cost per install (CPI) is ad spend divided by the number of installs it produced, and also a pricing model where you pay per install.

Raw data export delivers event-level attribution records, such as installs and in-app events, to your own storage or data warehouse.

A deep link is a link that opens a specific screen inside a mobile app, such as a product or promotion, instead of the home screen or a web page.

A deferred deep link takes a new user to a specific screen in an app after they install it from the store, so the promised content is not lost.

IDFA and GAID are the advertising identifiers of iOS and Android devices, used to match ad clicks to app installs where the user has not opted out.

An in-app event is a user action after install, such as a sign-up or purchase, recorded and tied to the install source so campaigns can be compared.

Install fraud is any technique that makes an advertiser pay for app installs that are fake or that the paid source did not really cause or deliver.

The install referrer is data Google Play passes to an Android app after installation, describing the link that led to the download.

Last-touch attribution gives all the credit for an install to the final qualifying ad engagement before it, the standard model in mobile marketing.

Lifetime value (LTV) is the average revenue a user generates over their time in an app, usually measured to a fixed day after install.

Mobile attribution identifies which ad, campaign or link led a user to install an app or take an action inside it, so spend can be tied to results.

A mobile measurement platform, or MMP, is an independent platform that attributes app installs and in-app events to the ads and links that drove them.

An organic install is an app install that is not attributed to any measured ad or marketing link, for example from store search or word of mouth.

A postback is a server-to-server message that tells an ad network or other partner that an install or in-app event happened, so it can optimise.

Retargeting is advertising to people who already installed your app; re-engagement is the measured result when they come back and open it again.

Retention rate is the share of users who return to an app a given number of days after installing it, a key early signal of lasting value.

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is the revenue generated by users from a campaign divided by what the campaign cost, shown as a percentage by cohort age.

A self-attributing network (SAN) is an ad platform that matches installs to its own ads and reports the claim to your mobile measurement platform.

SKAdNetwork (SKAN) is Apple's framework that attributes iOS app installs to ad campaigns without sharing user-level data, using delayed postbacks.

Universal Links (iOS) and App Links (Android) are https links that open an app when it is installed and a web page when it is not.

View-through attribution credits an install to an ad the user saw but did not click, and applies only when no eligible click exists.