Apple Search Ads that drive installs, revenue and app growth.
Admiral Media manages Apple Search Ads campaigns that connect your app with high-intent App Store searchers — turning ad spend into measurable installs and revenue.
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- Apple Search Ads certified partner with direct platform support
- $50M+ in ad spend managed across mobile app verticals
- Keyword strategy, bid optimisation & full account management
- Attribution expertise: SKAN, MMP integrations & incrementality
Apple Search Ads Audit
Let’s audit your ASA campaigns
We’ll review your account structure, keyword strategy and bids — and show you exactly where installs and revenue are being left on the table.
Creative Specs & Account Structure
How to structure your Apple Search Ads account
A well-organised account is the foundation of efficient Apple Search Ads performance. Follow this structure to maximise coverage and control over your spend.
1Create Campaigns
Organise campaigns by country or region and strategy type. Each campaign should have a clear objective and budget structure.
- Structure by Country or Region and Strategy
- Set a lifetime budget and a daily budget cap
- Separate brand, competitor, category and discovery campaigns
2Add Ad Groups
Ad groups sit inside campaigns and group keywords by theme. Keep each ad group tightly focused.
- Name ad groups by keyword theme or intent
- Include keywords and set competitive bids
- Regularly review bid strength indicators
- Split by match type: Broad, Exact, Search Match
3Mine Your Keywords
Your Discovery campaign is a keyword research engine. Use it to find converting search terms and build out your exact match campaigns.
- Regularly audit your Discovery campaign search terms
- Promote high-performing terms to exact match in the relevant ad group
- Add the same terms as exact match negative keywords in Discovery to avoid overlap
- Non-performing terms go into negative keywords immediately
4Use ASA Facilities
Apple Search Ads Advanced provides powerful reporting and optimisation tools. Use them consistently.
- Leverage the Search Terms report for keyword discovery
- Monitor Share of Voice (SOV) and CTR benchmarks
- Use Creative Sets to test different app store visuals
- Enable Search Match in Discovery for automated query expansion
Best Practices
Apple Search Ads Do’s and Don’ts
Avoid the most common mistakes and apply proven tactics to get more from your Apple Search Ads budget.
Do’s
- Use Keyword Planner for initial keyword discovery
- Keep Search bids lower than your Broad Match bids in most cases
- Use bulk editing for keyword and negative keyword management
- Monitor lifetime budgets carefully on long-running campaigns
- Review ASA keyword suggestions critically before adding them
- If filtering by gender or age, account for ~30% LAT users excluded
Don’ts
- Don’t assume ASA search behaves like Google — it’s intent-based but structured differently
- Don’t include special characters in keywords — they’ll be rejected
- Don’t let your Discovery campaign and exact match campaigns overlap without negatives
- Don’t set and forget bids — App Store competition changes weekly
- Don’t add broad keyword suggestions blindly — vet each one against your target audience
ASA Services
Everything we handle for your Apple Search Ads
From account setup and keyword strategy to creative guidance and attribution — Admiral Media manages every layer of your ASA performance.
Account Setup & Structure
Campaign architecture built for scale: brand, competitor, category, and discovery campaigns with clean ad group segmentation.
Keyword Strategy
Keyword research, match type strategy, negative keyword lists and ongoing search term mining from your discovery campaigns.
Bid Optimisation
Manual and rule-based bid management aligned with your CPI, ROAS and install volume targets. Weekly bid reviews.
Creative Guidance
App Store creative specs, Creative Sets testing, and screenshot/preview optimisation to improve TTR and conversion rates.
Attribution & Measurement
SKAN 4 configuration, MMP integration (Adjust, AppsFlyer, Singular), and incrementality analysis to tie installs to real revenue.
Reporting & Insights
Weekly performance reports, SOV tracking, cohort analysis and monthly strategy reviews to keep campaigns on the right trajectory.
FAQ
Apple Search Ads questions
Common questions about Apple Search Ads and how Admiral Media approaches app install campaigns.
What is Apple Search Ads?
Apple Search Ads lets you promote your app at the top of App Store search results. When users search for apps, your ad appears above organic results — giving you access to the highest-intent users at the moment they’re actively looking. It’s one of the most efficient paid UA channels for iOS apps because users are already in a discovery mindset.
What’s the difference between Apple Search Ads Basic and Advanced?
Basic is a simplified, automated version suited to smaller budgets. Advanced gives you full control over campaigns, ad groups, keywords, bids, creative sets and audience targeting. For serious user acquisition, Advanced is the only option — it’s what Admiral Media manages for all clients.
How do you structure a well-performing ASA account?
The standard structure separates campaigns by strategy: a Discovery campaign with Search Match and broad match to find new keywords, plus dedicated campaigns for brand, competitor and category keywords using exact match. Ad groups are segmented by keyword theme. Search terms that convert in Discovery get promoted to exact match campaigns with Discovery negatives to prevent overlap.
How does attribution work with Apple Search Ads?
Apple Search Ads uses both its own attribution API and supports SKAN 4 postbacks. We set up your MMP (Adjust, AppsFlyer or Singular) to capture installs, events and revenue from ASA correctly. For accurate measurement we also help configure SKAN conversion value schemas and run incrementality tests to understand true campaign impact.
Do you manage Apple Search Ads alongside other UA channels?
Yes. Most of our app clients run Apple Search Ads alongside Meta Ads, Google UAC and TikTok. We coordinate budgets, analyse cannibilisation between channels, and ensure your attribution setup correctly assigns credit across all sources.
Ready to scale your app on the App Store?
Tell us about your Apple Search Ads account and we’ll show you precisely how we’d improve it.
Request Your ASA Audit →
No commitment. Senior strategist. 48-hour turnaround.