What is mobile attribution?
Mobile attribution is working out which click or ad led to an app install or an in-app event, so the right source gets credit and the right advertiser pays. It matches a conversion to an earlier tap using a click ID, a store referrer or device signals.
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An app store doesn’t say who sent a user, so the link has to be rebuilt afterward. The tap is saved, the install is seen, and something has to connect the two.
Example: player u_48213 taps Harbor Blocks at 2:06 PM, recorded as clk_7Q2f81, and opens the game at 2:09 PM. The install is matched to clk_7Q2f81, so Pebble Rewards gets the credit.
- A click ID that travels. The most exact method: the ID passes through the store or the site and comes back with the conversion. On Android, the Play install referrer carries it.
- Signals. With no ID, a system compares things like the address and the time of the tap with the first open. This is a best guess and gets weaker with time. On iOS it’s limited by App Tracking Transparency.
- A measurement tool. An MMP does the matching and shares the result.
When several taps could claim one install, a rule picks the winner. The most common gives all the credit to the last tap before the install. Other rules exist, so check which one a report uses before you compare it with another.
An install matches one of three ways, none with an SDK: the Play install referrer, a first-open call from your server, or forwarding from your attribution tool. When several different people clicked from one address, we don’t guess between them. Storing the ID you need: Capture afos_click_id on your site or app.
Questions
What is an attribution window?
The time after a tap in which a conversion can still be credited to it. Each tool sets its own, which is one reason two reports can disagree on the same install.
What happens to an install with no match?
It counts as organic, or as coming from another source, and nobody in the tracked chain gets credit. On AffiliateOS these show under Installs from elsewhere and aren't charged.