CLICK-THROUGH ATTRIBUTION
Advertisers rely on Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) in order to measure their app install campaigns as MMPs leverage different attribution technologies such as click-through attribution and view-through attribution.
What is Click-Through Attribution?
Click-Through Attribution is the most common attribution model used to measure app install campaigns. It attributes installs and in-app events to the ads which were clicked by users.
Let’s make an example: whenever a user is shown an ad within a mobile app, clicks on the ad, then downloads and opens the app within a certain time frame, the install is attributed to the mentioned ad.
By tracking the clicks on the ad and data about the install or post-install event, MMPs are able to compare these two data points through deterministic and probabilistic technologies. Whenever the two data points match, the install is attributed to the ad and the media source which had published it.
However, users often engage with more than one ad before installing an app, and in such a case, there are some rules MMPs apply in order to decide which ad to reward with the install. The two main models are Last Touch Attribution and Multi-Touch Attribution.
The former model gives credit to the last ad which gets clicked before the install takes place, and it is the most used attribution model in app install campaigns. The latter rewards any ads clicked before the install with different fractions of payment.
Advertisers and MMPs can combine click-through attribution with view-through attribution, which attributes installs and in-app events also to ads only shown to users but never clicked. However, in this case the time frame between the impression and the install is way shorter than the one set between a click and an install.
Why is it important?
Click-Through Attribution is the main rule used to attribute installs and in-app events to the marketing activities which have generated them. Therefore, advertisers rely on this attribution model in order to assess the performance of their app install campaigns and their marketing partners such as Ad Networks and Demand Side Platforms (DSPs).
Both advertisers and MMPs rely on click-through attribution because it is an objective measure of the interaction between the engagement with an ad and the desired action, be it the install or an in-app event.
The attribution window, which is the time frame between the click and the targeted event, makes sure that the install has really been prompted by the ad and it is not organic.
What you need to know about Click-Through Attribution?
- Click-Through attribution is an attribution model used to measure the performance of app install campaigns;
- Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) rely on click-through attribution to attribute installs and post-install events to the right media sources which have generated them;
- Click-Through attribution model attributes installs and in-app events to the ads clicked by users before these events have taken place;
- Advertisers use click-through attribution model in order to assess the performance of their marketing partners;
- In addition to click-through attribution, advertisers can enable view-through attribution, which measures impressions and not only clicks to attribute installs and post-install events.
