Google announces AdWords conversion tracking for iOS app downloads

Google announced today on its Inside AdWords blog that it will now allow AdWords users to track iOS downloads from in-app display ads, a feature that was previously only available for Android app downloads. Google said iOS conversion tracking allows advertisers to “better understand which campaigns are most effective at driving app downloads.”

The feature allows marketers to track downloads that originate from “in-app” display ads, meaning the iOS conversion tracking feature at this point doesn’t include app downloads driven by Google Search or Google Display Network ads. For iOS app downloads, Google explained marketers will have to go through a couple extra steps, requiring them install an SDK, grab a code snippet from their AdWords account, and then install it into their app. The same feature is currently available to Android as a codeless solution requiring users to simply create a new conversion in their account.

Tracking downloads of an iOS app requires integrating a small SDK into your app and pasting a small snippet of code in your app’s didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method to call the SDK.

Full instructions from Google on setting up iOS conversion tracking are below:

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1. Sign in to your AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com
2. Click the “Tools and Analysis” tab, and then click the “Conversions” tab.
3. Click the “+ New conversion” button.
4. Name your conversion, select “Mobile app download” and click “Save and continue.”
5. Choose the “iOS” mobile platform and click “Save and continue.”

6. Note

   Tracking downloads of an iOS app requires integrating a small SDK into your app and pasting a small snippet of code in your app’s didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method to call the SDK.

   Choose the appropriate button to indicate whether you or someone else will be making these code changes. Once you’ve made a choice, both the SDK and the code snippet will be provided.

7. Click “Done.” Your mobile app downloads conversion data will now start showing up with the rest of your conversion data within 24 hours.

Notes

• Mobile application download tracking for iOS will not work if your ads don’t point directly to the App Store. Make sure your ad points to an itunes.apple.com URL, for example: “http://itunes.apple.com/app/id<application_id>?mt=8”. Third-party tracking URLs are not supported at this time.
• Your conversion rate, cost-per-conversion, and value-to-click ratio data are adjusted to reflect only those clicks from which we can track conversions. Some users and publisher apps choose not to use conversion tracking. So, not all conversions resulting from your AdWords ads can be reported.