Mobile Marketing Glossary

A controlled comparison of variants to estimate their effect on a defined outcome. Set the primary metric, sample requirements, allocation and stopping rule before launch. Testing one change helps isolate its effect; testing whole concepts is also valid when the question concerns the complete experience. Avoid calling a winner from small or repeatedly checked samples.

Apple’s privacy-preserving framework for measuring app installations and re-engagement through signed attribution postbacks. It supports the App Store and alternative app marketplaces and interoperates with SKAdNetwork. Available capabilities depend on the operating system, ad network and integration, so confirm support with your developer and measurement provider.

Meta’s automated app-promotion campaign approach, using machine learning to help optimise targeting, delivery and creative. Results depend on the chosen objective, creative and the quality of app conversion signals. Compare it with alternatives using the same attribution window and downstream outcome; automation does not guarantee better performance.

A digital persona created or animated with AI for advertising, onboarding or other content. It may be a stylised mascot, avatar or synthetic presenter. Evaluate production quality, rights, disclosure requirements and audience response before scaling. Cost and performance depend on the workflow and concept; AI characters do not have a universal cost or CTR advantage.

End-to-end software environments that bundle generative AI models, prompt management, fine-tuning capabilities, and deployment infrastructure into a single product. For mobile marketing teams, AI platforms consolidate creative generation, copy variation, audience insight extraction, and performance prediction into unified workflows. Key evaluation criteria: model quality for your vertical, API reliability, data privacy controls, and cost per generation at the volume your creative velocity demands.

AI-generated user-generated-content-style ads: short, authentic-feeling videos that mimic real creator or customer footage but are produced with generative AI instead of filming talent. AI UGC lets advertisers test many hooks, languages, and angles at the volume paid social demands, then scale the winners against live performance. Admiral Media produces AI UGC through its AI Creative Factory.

Video ads produced partly or fully with generative AI, including scripts, voiceovers, imagery or scenes. They can help teams explore and localise concepts, while human review checks accuracy, rights and brand fit. Judge success using downstream conversion and user quality, not production speed or video format alone.

Sequences that connect AI tools with data, review steps and operational systems. A mobile marketing workflow might summarise creative results, draft new concepts and queue approved assets for production. Reliable workflows include access controls, input checks and human approval for consequential actions. Measure time saved and error rates rather than assuming a fixed efficiency gain.

Apple’s advertising platform for promoting apps on the App Store, previously known as Apple Search Ads (ASA). Placements include search results, the Search tab, the Today tab and product pages. Evaluate taps, installs and downstream value by placement rather than assuming every placement has the same intent.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is revenue divided by the defined user population. Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU) divides revenue by paying users only. State the period, cohort and revenue basis, and whether users means active users or an acquisition cohort. Compare like-for-like windows, such as D30 revenue per acquired user.

Improving an app’s store presence to support discovery and download conversion. ASO includes metadata, creative assets, localisation, ratings and testing, with different fields and rules on the App Store and Google Play. Measure store visibility and conversion alongside retained-user or payer quality. Ranking and conversion effects depend on the change and audience.

Apple’s permission framework for tracking people across other companies’ apps and websites, including access to the IDFA. ATT applies to qualifying tracking even when identifiers other than the IDFA are used. A refusal must be respected; it is not permission to replace the IDFA with fingerprinting.

A Privacy Sandbox proposal for measuring ad conversions without cross-party identifiers. Google announced its retirement on Chrome and Android in October 2025. Treat older implementation guides as historical material, not a current Android migration requirement.

A bidding control that limits the bid a platform may submit in an auction. A bid cap is not a guarantee that the average cost per install or action will stay below the same number. A low cap can restrict delivery. Assess cost, volume and user quality together when setting it.

Total revenue divided by total advertising spend for a defined business scope and period, often including revenue from organic users. It can show overall revenue efficiency without adding overlapping platform attribution reports. It does not isolate advertising’s causal impact or account for every business cost, so it is not a profit metric.

A targeting approach with few audience restrictions beyond necessary controls such as location, age eligibility or exclusions. The platform uses conversion signals to find users within that audience. Broad targeting may improve delivery, but should be compared with other approaches using business outcomes and the same measurement rules.

A keyword match type in Apple Search Ads where your ad may appear for close variants, synonyms, and related searches, not just the exact keyword you bid on. Broad match enables discovery of high-performing queries you haven’t explicitly targeted, but requires aggressive negative keyword management to prevent budget waste on irrelevant traffic. Use broad match for keyword discovery, then migrate winners to exact match campaigns.

The total cost of acquiring one paying customer, including ad spend, creative, tooling, and team time. CAC differs from CPI or CPA because it counts the cost to win revenue, not just an install or event. Healthy growth keeps CAC well below lifetime value, with a payback period your cash flow can support.

Meta’s interface for sending permitted conversion events directly from a server or connected system. It can complement browser or app measurement when configured correctly. Deduplicate overlapping events and respect consent and data-use requirements. Server-side delivery improves control over data transmission, but it does not override user choices or guarantee performance gains.

A campaign setting on Meta (and similar platforms) that distributes budget dynamically across ad sets based on real-time performance, rather than allocating fixed budgets to each ad set. CBO lets the algorithm shift spend to the best-performing audiences and creatives throughout the day. Works best when ad sets have similar audience sizes and comparable bid ceilings.

The share of a defined user or customer base that becomes inactive or cancels during a period. State the inactivity rule or subscription-cancellation definition. Churn is only the complement of retention when both use the same cohort, time window and mutually exclusive statuses; day-specific app retention is not automatically a churn measure.

Assigning conversion credit to an eligible ad click within a chosen attribution window. The credited click depends on the attribution model and platform rules. Click-through attribution can use observed or modelled signals, so it is not inherently deterministic. Compare channels using compatible windows and distinguish attributed outcomes from incremental ones.

A tool that collects, stores, and signals a user’s consent for tracking and data processing, as required under GDPR and similar laws. CMPs decide whether analytics, attribution, and ad pixels are allowed to fire, so a misconfigured CMP can silently break measurement. For apps, consent interacts with ATT on iOS and Consent Mode on Android and web.

Grouping users who share a common characteristic (typically install date) and tracking their metrics over time. Cohort analysis reveals how retention, revenue, and engagement evolve, surfacing patterns that aggregate metrics conceal. The most common approach: daily install cohorts tracked at D1, D7, D14, D30, and D90 retention windows.

The encoded signal a fine value of 0 to 63, or a coarse low, medium, or high that an app sends to SKAdNetwork to describe post-install behaviour without exposing user-level data. Conversion value schemas are how teams measure revenue, retention, or funnel events under Apple’s privacy model. A well-designed schema is the difference between usable SKAN data and noise.

Advertising spend divided by the number of attributed actions, such as registrations, purchases or subscriptions. State the action, attribution window and whether the count represents unique users or repeat events. CPA-based optimisation needs reliable conversion signals, but learning-volume requirements differ by platform and campaign type.

Advertising spend divided by attributed app installs. For example, €1,000 spent on 500 attributed installs gives a €2 CPI. Compare campaigns using the same install definition, attribution window, country and platform. A low CPI only supports growth if acquired users retain, convert and generate enough value.

Advertising spend divided by impressions, multiplied by 1,000. CPM measures the cost of delivery, while CPI measures the cost of installs. With compatible data, CPI equals CPM divided by installs per thousand impressions (IPM). For example, a €10 CPM and 5 IPM imply a €2 CPI.

The auction pricing model used by Apple Search Ads, where advertisers pay only when a user taps their ad in the App Store search results, equivalent to CPC in traditional search advertising. Effective CPT management requires setting keyword-level caps back-calculated from target CPI: if target CPI is $3.00 and expected CVR is 60%, the maximum CPT should be approximately $1.80.

A decline in an ad’s effectiveness as an audience becomes familiar with it or its appeal weakens. Possible signs include deteriorating CTR, install rate or CPA at comparable delivery conditions. Check auction costs, audience mix and measurement changes before attributing a decline to fatigue. Use account-specific baselines rather than fixed percentage triggers.

A structured process for evaluating ad concepts or executions against a defined business outcome. Decide whether the test compares full concepts or isolates one element, then set allocation, sample requirements and stopping rules. Assess downstream quality as well as attention metrics and distinguish controlled experiments from directional platform delivery comparisons.

The rate at which a team produces, reviews and tests new ad concepts or variations. Useful velocity balances quality, learning and the amount of traffic available to evaluate each idea. There is no universal weekly quota: measure how many distinct hypotheses produce reliable learning and useful additions to the creative mix.

Clicks divided by impressions, multiplied by 100. It measures how often an impression leads to a click, not the share of unique people who click or the quality of resulting users. Compare the same click definition, placement and format. Higher CTR can coexist with lower conversion or retention.

Connected TV and over-the-top advertising delivers ads through streaming platforms (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus) that can drive app installs via QR codes, companion banners, or second-screen retargeting. CTV is an emerging UA channel for mobile apps because it reaches users in lean-back, high-attention environments. Attribution remains challenging, most installs are measured through probabilistic matching or incrementality studies rather than deterministic click-through paths.

Alternative App Store product pages with tailored screenshots, app previews, promotional text and a unique URL. Apple currently supports up to 70 per app. Approved pages can also be assigned relevant keywords for App Store search discovery. Use CPPs to align a campaign’s promise with its store destination, then compare conversion and downstream user quality.

Conversions divided by eligible visits, taps, clicks or users, multiplied by 100. Always name the denominator: tap-to-install CVR differs from install-to-purchase CVR. At constant tap cost, CPI equals cost per tap divided by tap-to-install CVR expressed as a decimal. A 10% relative CVR increase therefore reduces CPI by about 9.1%, not 10%.

The share of an install cohort active again at a specified time after acquisition. D1, D7 and D30 usually refer to days 1, 7 and 30, but exact-day, rolling and return-within-window definitions differ. Document the rule and compare similar apps, countries and cohorts. No single retention threshold fits every app category.

A secure environment where two parties, for example an advertiser and a platform, can match and analyse data without either side exposing raw user-level records. Clean rooms let teams measure overlap, reach, and incrementality in a privacy-safe way as third-party identifiers disappear. They are increasingly central to measurement on walled-garden platforms.

Daily Active Users and Monthly Active Users count distinct users meeting a defined activity rule during a day or month. DAU divided by MAU is one measure of usage frequency, provided identity and activity definitions are consistent. Interpret it against the product’s intended use: a daily social app and an occasional travel app need different benchmarks.

Adjusting bids, budgets, or delivery by time of day or day of week to concentrate spend when your audience converts best. Dayparting can improve efficiency for apps with strong usage patterns, though on heavily automated buying it is often better expressed through bid signals than hard on and off schedules.

Technology that automatically assembles and optimises ad creative elements: headlines, images, CTAs, backgrounds, in real time based on user signals. DCO shifts creative production from manual iteration to algorithmic combination, testing thousands of permutations simultaneously. On Meta, Advantage+ Creative performs a form of DCO. The key limitation: DCO optimises the arrangement of existing assets, not the conceptual quality of the creative itself.

A link that opens a specific screen or piece of content in an app. Common implementations include iOS Universal Links and Android App Links. Provide a useful fallback when the app is unavailable, and check the full route on supported devices. A deep link reduces navigation steps, but does not guarantee a fixed conversion lift.

A deep link that persists through the app install process, the user clicks an ad, is routed to the App Store, installs, then on first open is taken to the specific in-app content referenced in the original link rather than the default home screen. Deferred deep links are essential for performance campaigns where the ad promises a specific product, offer, or content piece. Most MMPs support deferred deep linking natively.

Digitally delivered out-of-home advertising on screens such as billboards, transit, and retail displays, increasingly bought programmatically. DOOH adds broad, brand-building reach to a performance mix and, with mobile retargeting and store-visit measurement, can be tied back to app and ecommerce outcomes.

A platform that allows advertisers to buy mobile ad inventory programmatically across multiple ad exchanges and supply sources through real-time bidding (RTB). Leading mobile DSPs include Moloco, AppLovin (AXON), Unity, and Digital Turbine. DSPs access inventory that walled gardens (Meta, Google, TikTok) don’t reach, making them essential for scaling beyond self-serve platforms. Performance depends heavily on first-party data signals fed into the DSP’s ML models.

Ad revenue divided by served impressions, multiplied by 1,000. Publishers use eCPM to compare monetisation across formats, demand sources or markets. It is an observed revenue rate, not necessarily the auction price paid by an advertiser. Assess eCPM alongside fill rate, engagement and retention when changing ad placements.

The share of a defined population completing a specified engagement action. Its numerator and denominator vary by tool and use case, so state exactly what counts as engagement. Session frequency and duration are related engagement metrics, but are not themselves rates. Compare acquisition cohorts using a consistent event definition and observation window.

A keyword match setting that limits eligibility to the selected keyword and permitted close variants, according to the platform’s rules. In Apple Ads it offers more control over search-query coverage than broad match. Review actual search terms and downstream results; exact match does not automatically produce the highest conversion rate.

A monetisation model where the app is free to download, with revenue generated through in-app purchases (IAP), subscriptions, or advertising. F2P dominates mobile gaming; freemium is the standard for SaaS and subscription apps. The UA implication is fundamental: no upfront revenue means the entire business model depends on acquiring users whose LTV exceeds their CPI. Cohort-level LTV tracking is not optional.

An attempt to recognise a device by combining signals such as its configuration, network or browser properties. Apple prohibits deriving device data to identify a device uniquely. Fingerprinting is not a compliant substitute for denied ATT permission, and the term should not be used as a synonym for all statistical or aggregate attribution modelling.

Data collected directly from your users through their interactions with your app, website, or CRM, as distinct from third-party data purchased externally. Post-ATT, first-party data is the most valuable signal for building seed audiences, lookalike targeting, and feeding platform algorithms. Apps with strong registration flows and rich in-app event taxonomies hold a significant competitive advantage in the privacy-first era.

A limit on how many times the same user sees your ad over a set period. Frequency capping protects against ad fatigue and wasted spend from over-serving a small audience, while too tight a cap can starve learning and reach. The right cap depends on creative volume and audience size.

A resettable and deletable advertising identifier supplied by Google Play services on Android. Where available and permitted, it supports advertising measurement. A deleted identifier returns zeros, and apps targeting Android 13 or later must declare the relevant AD_ID permission. Do not assume every Android device provides a usable GAID.

AI models that create new content video, images, text, audio from prompts and reference inputs, rather than only classifying existing data. In advertising, generative AI powers the production of ad creative at scale, from UGC-style video to static variants and localisation. Admiral Media applies it through its AI Creative Factory, pairing AI production with human quality assurance.

Google App campaigns, formerly called Universal App Campaigns (UAC), automate app promotion across Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and the Display Network. Campaign subtypes support installs, engagement or pre-registration. Performance Max is a separate campaign type, not the replacement for App campaigns. Select the campaign type and conversion setup that match the app’s acquisition or re-engagement goal.

A self-reinforcing cycle where user actions attract new users, who repeat the cycle. Growth loops compound over time, unlike linear funnels. Common examples: referral loops (user invites friends), content loops (user-created content drives organic discovery), and performance loops (paid UA revenue funds more spend). The most defensible mobile businesses run at least one organic growth loop alongside paid UA.

The opening element of an ad that earns attention and introduces the message. A hook may use visual action, a question or a clear problem, but should represent the app honestly. Compare hooks under compatible delivery conditions and measure downstream outcomes as well as attention. A strong opening alone does not establish install quality.

A mobile-game category built around simple mechanics, quick onboarding and short sessions. Many titles monetise through advertising, though business models vary. Growth depends on the relationship between acquisition cost, retention and monetisation. There is no fixed CPI range that makes every hypercasual game viable.

Revenue earned by displaying ads inside an app, including rewarded, interstitial, native and banner formats. Monetisation depends on demand, format, geography and user behaviour. Evaluate revenue per user alongside retention and experience, and include ad revenue when calculating the LTV or ROAS of an ad-funded app.

A purchase made within an app, such as a subscription, premium feature or virtual item. Report gross customer payments separately from developer proceeds after applicable fees, taxes and refunds. Store fees and payment rules vary by programme, transaction and market. Use consistent revenue definitions in bidding, ROAS and LTV reporting.

Apple’s advertising identifier. On supported versions of iOS and iPadOS, access requires ATT authorisation; without it, the identifier is unavailable as a usable advertising ID. Its use is subject to Apple’s tracking rules. Privacy-preserving attribution can still provide measurement without an IDFA.

An Apple identifier shared across all apps from the same developer on a device, available without ATT permission. IDFV supports first-party analytics and measurement within one publisher’s own portfolio, but it cannot track users across different vendors, so it is not a replacement for the IDFA in attribution.

Time-limited experiences promoted through Apple’s App Store, such as competitions, premieres or new seasons. Their event cards help people discover or return to app content. Distinguish these merchandising features from analytics events such as purchases or registrations. Google Play uses separate promotional-content features and requirements.

An experiment that estimates the outcomes caused by advertising by comparing a treatment group with a suitable control. Audience or geographic holdouts can measure incremental installs, revenue or other outcomes. Design depends on available sample, contamination risk and spend. An attributed conversion is not automatically an incremental conversion.

A full-screen ad shown at a suitable transition in an app, such as between game levels. Placement, frequency and dismissal behaviour affect user experience and retention. Follow the relevant store and ad-network policies, then test monetisation and user outcomes together. Fixed eCPM ranges or ads-per-session rules do not fit every app.

Attributed installs divided by ad impressions, multiplied by 1,000. With matching click-based definitions, IPM equals CTR multiplied by click-to-install CVR and 1,000 when both rates are decimals. It connects creative response to install volume, but comparisons also need compatible attribution rules and a check on acquired-user quality.

An estimate of how many additional users each existing user brings through a referral mechanism. A simple version multiplies invitations per user by the invitation conversion rate. Values above one can support a self-reinforcing referral loop under the model’s assumptions. A value below one does not mean paid acquisition is required; other organic channels may still drive growth.

An audience created by a platform to resemble a supplied seed group. Seed quality, size, permissions and the platform’s available signals influence usefulness. Test seeds aligned with the desired outcome, such as retained customers, against relevant alternatives. A smaller percentage or payer-based seed does not guarantee better performance.

An AI model trained on large datasets to interpret and generate language and, in many systems, work with other media. Marketing uses include draft copy, research summaries and creative briefs. Outputs can be inaccurate, so verify factual claims and protect confidential data. Model choice, prompts and grounded inputs matter more than assuming every task needs fine-tuning.

A plot of cumulative revenue or contribution per user as a cohort ages. It shows when value arrives and supports payback analysis or forecasting. Forecasts based on older cohorts need validation against current retention, monetisation and acquisition mix. Historical early-to-late revenue ratios are assumptions to test, not fixed properties of an app genre.

The cumulative economic value of a user or customer over a defined relationship or forecast horizon. Teams may use revenue LTV or contribution-margin LTV; label the basis and account for fees, refunds and service costs consistently. State the cohort and time window. D30 observed revenue per user is not a complete lifetime forecast.

An open protocol that standardises how AI models connect to external tools, data sources, and APIs. MCP enables LLMs to pull live data from your MMP, ad platforms, analytics dashboards, and creative repositories during a single conversation or workflow. For mobile marketing teams, MCP turns AI assistants from static knowledge tools into operational agents that can query your Adjust dashboard, pull Google Ads performance, and draft optimisation recommendations grounded in real data. The protocol is gaining rapid adoption across AI platforms and is becoming the standard integration layer for AI-powered marketing operations.

Uses regression analysis on aggregate spending and outcome data to determine each marketing channel’s contribution to business results, without requiring user-level tracking. MMM has resurged post-ATT as a privacy-safe complement to deterministic attribution. Meta’s open-source Robyn and Google’s Meridian make MMM accessible to teams without dedicated data science resources. Best used for strategic budget allocation across channels, not daily optimisation.

Paid advertising across eligible Meta placements, including Facebook and Instagram. App-promotion campaigns can optimise toward installs or selected in-app outcomes when supported conversion signals are configured. Evaluate performance by objective, placement and audience, using consistent attribution and downstream quality measures.

A measurement provider that helps attribute app installs and in-app outcomes across advertising sources. An MMP can reconcile eligible signals, deduplicate within its supported scope and process privacy-preserving postbacks. It does not observe every conversion or prove causality. Align event, revenue and attribution definitions when comparing its reports with ad platforms.

Advertising buying systems that use machine learning to predict outcomes and optimise bids from available signals. Moloco is one example of a mobile-focused DSP. Platforms differ in inventory, measurement support and event requirements. Assess them against a defined business objective and realistic learning budget rather than a universal minimum spend.

The predictable subscription revenue an app expects each month, the core metric for subscription and SaaS-style products. MRR rises with new subscribers and upgrades and falls with churn and downgrades, so growth depends on acquiring subscribers below their lifetime value and keeping retention high. Annualised, it becomes ARR.

Keywords used to prevent ads from matching unwanted searches. In Apple Ads, they help control query coverage, particularly with broad match or Search Match. Review search-term results and exclude clear mismatches, while checking the platform’s negative-match rules. A competitor name is not automatically irrelevant if competitor acquisition is part of the strategy.

The single metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to users and correlates most strongly with long-term business success. For mobile games: D7 retention or sessions per user. For subscription apps: trial-to-paid conversion rate. For e-commerce: orders per MAU. UA strategy should ultimately optimise for the north star metric, not vanity metrics like total installs or raw CPI.

Acquiring users through unpaid distribution, such as app-store discovery, referrals, editorial coverage, social content or web search. Organic acquisition still has content, product and operational costs. Paid activity may influence organic demand, but the size and direction of that effect require measurement rather than an assumed ranking boost.

Acquiring new app users through paid advertising. Effective planning connects channel selection, creative, store conversion, measurement and retained-user economics. Evaluate paid UA against the app’s growth objective and contribution margin, rather than treating install volume as success or assuming paid media is essential for every business.

The time needed for an acquired cohort’s cumulative contribution to recover its acquisition cost. State which costs and revenue deductions the calculation includes. Revenue payback and contribution-margin payback are different measures. The acceptable period depends on cash flow, retention and financing, not a universal rule for funded or bootstrapped apps.

An interactive ad that lets someone try a short version or demonstration of an app experience before choosing to install. A playable should represent the product honestly and have a clear handoff to the store. Measure downstream retention and monetisation as well as interaction and install rates; higher-quality users are not guaranteed by the format.

A notification that sends attribution or conversion information between measurement systems, app developers and advertising platforms. Its fields and timing depend on the integration. SKAdNetwork postbacks use conversion windows, random delays and privacy thresholds, so they are not immediate user-level event logs. Check duplication rules and event mappings before using postbacks for bidding.

An estimate of future user or cohort value based on observed behaviour and a calibrated model. It can inform acquisition and retention decisions before a full revenue window matures. Validate predictions against realised outcomes and monitor drift. Using modelled values in bidding requires platform support, consistent value definitions and safeguards against inflated signals.

A Google initiative that explored privacy-preserving advertising APIs on Android. Google announced retirement of its advertising technologies, including Topics, Protected Audience and Attribution Reporting, in October 2025. It should not be described as an upcoming replacement for GAID or an Android version of ATT.

Automated buying and selling of digital ad inventory through connected systems. Transactions may use real-time auctions or other automated arrangements. For mobile apps, assess inventory quality, fraud controls, measurement and retained-user economics. Programmatic is one possible channel expansion, not a requirement tied to a fixed monthly budget.

Marketing aimed at potential new customers rather than an established customer audience. Campaigns may optimise for installs, purchases or another acquisition outcome. Definitions and exclusions vary by platform, so prospecting audiences can still contain existing users. Judge results by incremental acquisition and downstream quality, not reach or install volume alone.

Messages an app can send through the device’s notification system, subject to permissions and platform rules. Useful pushes connect a relevant event or reminder to a clear in-app destination. Test timing and frequency against engagement, opt-outs and retention. There is no universal recovery rate or messages-per-week limit that works for every app.

Activity intended to bring existing or lapsed users back to an app through paid or owned channels. It may use relevant offers, reminders or deep links. Measurement definitions differ between platforms and should separate returns, re-attributions and reinstalls. Test incremental value because some users would have returned without the campaign.

An emerging channel where retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Instacart) offer ad placements within their apps and platforms that can drive installs or actions in third-party apps. Retail media networks leverage high-intent purchase data for targeting, a user browsing fitness equipment on Amazon is a strong prospect for a fitness app ad. Early-stage for app UA but growing rapidly as retailers expand their ad businesses beyond on-platform product promotion.

Advertising directed at people with a previous relevant interaction, such as an app visit, install or purchase. It can support re-engagement or conversion, subject to available signals, permissions and platform rules. Use appropriate exclusions and destinations, then measure incremental outcomes. Prior familiarity does not guarantee lower CPA or higher lifetime value.

The percentage of a defined cohort that remains active or returns within a specified window. Specify the activity event, cohort start and retention method before comparing results. Retention expectations depend on intended usage frequency and business model. Break results down by acquisition source and app version to find differences an overall average may hide.

An ad format in which a user chooses to watch an ad in exchange for a stated in-app benefit. Rewards, eligibility and completion handling should be clear. Evaluate revenue together with retention, economy balance and user experience. eCPM and completion rates vary by placement, audience and market rather than following a universal benchmark.

Attributed revenue divided by advertising spend, expressed as a ratio or percentage. A D7 ROAS of 30% means €0.30 of recorded revenue per €1 spent by day 7 for the defined cohort. Specify gross revenue or developer proceeds. ROAS excludes some costs and does not by itself establish profit or advertising incrementality.

An Apple Search Ads feature that automatically matches your ad to relevant search queries based on your app’s metadata, category, and related searches, without requiring explicit keyword bids. Search Match is useful for keyword discovery but delivers inconsistent quality without negative keyword pruning. Best practice: run Search Match in a separate campaign with a lower CPA ceiling, harvest high-performing queries, and migrate them to dedicated exact match campaigns.

Apple’s privacy-preserving framework for attributing App Store app installs and measuring post-install activity. Eligible SKAN 4 integrations can receive up to three delayed postbacks across separate conversion windows, with detail limited by privacy thresholds. Fine conversion values range from 0 to 63; coarse values are low, medium or high. SKAdNetwork interoperates with AdAttributionKit.

Google Ads bidding strategies that optimise for conversions or conversion value at auction time. They include Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximise conversions and Maximise conversion value, depending on campaign type. Learning depends on conversion volume, delay and campaign changes. There is no universal rule that a 20% budget change resets learning.

Paid advertising on Snapchat, strong for reaching younger audiences with full-screen vertical video and AR formats. For apps, Snapchat supports install and in-app event optimisation and rewards native, fast, creative-led storytelling. It works best as part of a diversified paid social mix rather than in isolation.

Releasing an app or game in a limited set of markets before a global launch to test retention, monetisation, and unit economics with real users at low risk. A soft launch is where teams validate that lifetime value can exceed acquisition cost and fix retention leaks before scaling spend. It is standard practice in mobile gaming and increasingly in apps.

A TikTok ad format that promotes real organic posts, your own or a creator’s with permission, as ads while keeping native engagement like the original likes, comments, and account. Spark Ads typically feel less like advertising and often outperform standalone creative, which is why creator-led Spark Ads are central to TikTok performance.

An exclusion audience used to reduce advertising to people who should not receive a campaign, such as existing customers in a new-customer offer. Keep it current through permitted data flows and check platform matching limits. Suppression is imperfect when identifiers or permissions are unavailable, so verify actual delivery and do not assume complete exclusion.

A bidding strategy that aims to achieve a specified average cost per conversion over time. It is an optimisation target, not a guaranteed ceiling for each conversion or the campaign’s realised average. Choose a target consistent with conversion quality, economics and available signal; setting it too low can reduce delivery.

A bidding strategy that aims for a specified average ratio of conversion value to advertising spend. It depends on reliable value signals and supported campaign settings. Use consistent values, distinguish realised revenue from forecasts and account for reporting delay. A target is not a guarantee of achieved ROAS or profit.

Paid advertising delivered inside Telegram, shown in large public channels through the platform’s ad system. Telegram Ads open a fast-growing, lightly contested messaging audience to app and ecommerce advertisers, with privacy-friendly, channel-context targeting. Admiral Media runs Telegram Ads as a managed channel.

Paid advertising on TikTok, including supported video and creator-led formats. App campaigns can use relevant install or in-app conversion objectives where available. Build creative for the placement and test concepts against downstream results. UGC-style production and polished video can both work; neither format wins universally.

A retired Privacy Sandbox proposal that shared broad interest categories for advertising. Google’s October 2025 retirement announcement covered Topics on both Chrome and Android. It is a historical concept rather than a future targeting requirement for mobile UA.

User acquisition is the work of bringing new users to an app through paid, organic or owned channels. It connects audience research, media buying, creative, store conversion and measurement. Judge acquisition using retained users, customer value and contribution, not installs alone.

An advertisement using visual or narrative conventions of creator content, such as direct-to-camera speech or a product demonstration. It may use hired creators, actors or synthetic production. UGC-style describes the format, not evidence of an independent customer endorsement. Test its business results and label advertising or synthetic content where required.

Bidding that prioritises predicted conversion value rather than only the number of installs or events. It relies on the platform’s supported value signals, eligibility and learning requirements. Compare realised revenue and contribution after a suitable observation period. Value optimisation does not guarantee a fixed ROAS lift or universal event threshold.

Assigning conversion credit to an eligible ad impression when no qualifying click is required under the attribution rules. The window and precedence vary by platform. VTA can capture exposure followed by later action, but attributed credit does not prove causality. Compare windows carefully and use incrementality evidence to assess influence.

A journey from a website or web ad into an app, sometimes through an app-store installation step. It may combine landing pages, app links and deferred routing. Attribution continuity depends on the device, consent and integration, so it must be tested rather than assumed. Monitor both drop-off and downstream user quality.

An informal term for a very high-spending user, especially in games with in-app purchases. The threshold and share of revenue vary by product and cohort. Analyse payer concentration and long-term retention without assuming a fixed top-user percentage. Acquisition models should be evaluated against realised value and responsible product practices.