SKAdNetwork 4.0 vs SKAdNetwork 3.0

SKAdNetwork 4.0 vs SKAdNetwork 3.0

On this article, we’ll dive into the newest SKAN updates launched by Apple and what they imply for app entrepreneurs trying to develop their iOS campaigns.

 

Table of Content

Welcome, SKAdNetwork 4.0 👋

Earlier this month, Apple up to date its SKAdNetwork documentation to mirror among the adjustments that might be obtainable within the new SKAN model. In the event you’re something like us, that whereas the business has made quite a lot of progress in determining iOS 14.5+, there’s nonetheless quite a lot of room for enchancment within the SKAN framework itself.

So is SKAdNetwork 4.0 the turning level we’d been anticipating? The principle adjustments in SKAdNetwork 4.0 embrace:

  • Hierarchical supply identifiers
  • Hierarchical conversion values
  • A number of conversions
  • SKAdNetwork attributions for internet

Hierarchical supply identifiers

What adjustments?

  • The marketing campaign ID subject is now known as supply identifier: the brand new title higher fits the aim of this subject—letting advertisers establish which marketing campaign an app set up was attributed to, or another extra attribution info.
  • The vary of the supply identifier is elevated from 2 to 4 digits: the best approach to perceive that is to contemplate this subject as a single quantity composed of combos of two, 3, and 4 digit numbers.

What does this imply?

There’ll be rather more flexibility for marketing campaign construction and variable testing: as an alternative of solely having 100 marketing campaign IDs for testing marketing campaign variables to get deterministic attributions, there might be, doubtlessly, 10.000 totally different ID combos obtainable.

That is tremendous excellent news as a result of the previous 2-digit format was extraordinarily limiting. For instance, a marketing campaign operating 5 totally different creatives throughout 5 totally different cities and at two totally different instances of day would make use of all of the 100 IDs.

HOWEVER, whereas 2 digits will all the time be current within the postback, the remaining 2 digits might be topic to Apple’s “privateness threshold”, similarly to how conversion values work.

To place it merely, in case your marketing campaign doesn’t have sufficient installs to satisfy the privateness threshold, solely 2 digits might be obtainable—and subsequently solely 100 marketing campaign IDs.

Observe that the upper the funds, the upper the probabilities of a marketing campaign assembly the brink and taking advantage of the 4-digit identifier in SKAN 4.0. The variety of digits obtainable is tied to the variety of installs: there are two totally different thresholds, one which permits you to get 3 digits, and one other unlocking the entire 4-digit supply identifier.

Hierarchical conversion values

What adjustments?

Conversion values at the moment are labeled into two varieties:

  • Effective-grained worth: this kind refers back to the conversion values as we all know them right this moment, a 6-bit worth (with as much as 64 variables) that may be set as much as gather precious efficiency insights.
  • Coarse-grained values: this new kind can assume three totally different values, excessivemedium, or low.

Observe, nonetheless, that whereas each values are captured through the measurement window, solely certainly one of these two values might be despatched again to the advertiser (extra on this beneath).

What does this imply?

The symptoms of set up high quality are altering: with SKAN 4.0, whether or not you get a conversion worth or not nonetheless depends upon the variety of downloads and the extent of consumer privateness met by the marketing campaign.

To resolve what conversion worth you’ll get (or whether or not you’ll obtain a conversion worth in any respect), Apple depends on crowd anonymity. This method has three totally different tiers primarily based on counts of installs:

Much less: the set up rely is low and subsequently doesn’t meet the privateness threshold. On this situation you get no conversion values in any respect.

Extra: an middleman degree the place the rely is excessive sufficient to satisfy the brink and the consumer’s uniqueness begins to mix with the gang. Postbacks on this stage will get a coarse-grained conversion worth to have not less than some indication of high quality.

Most: the rely of installs generated is excessive sufficient to entry detailed attribution knowledge with out compromising crowd anonymity. Postbacks on this stage will get a fine-grained conversion worth.

From an implementation perspective, advertisers might want to map these new coarse-grained values into their SKAN implementation by working with their MMP associate of alternative.

A number of conversions

What adjustments?

As a substitute of receiving only one postback, advertisers can now obtain as much as 3, each primarily based on a particular conversion window:

  • Postback window 1: 0-2 days
  • Postback window 2: 3-7 days
  • Postback window 3: 8-35 days

Each conversion window can embrace a number of engagements. Observe, nonetheless, that solely the primary postback will get the fine-grained conversion worth talked about within the earlier level (the remaining will obtain coarse-grained conversion values).

What does this imply?

Advertisers could have additional visibility into how a lot a consumer engages with their app after clicking on an advert. This can be a large enchancment in comparison with earlier SKAN variations, the place all postbacks had been tied to a timer that may restart after every time the consumer interacted with the app (word that Apple is but to substantiate whether or not this timer might be eliminated on SKAN 4.0). Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless unclear whether or not we’ll be capable to tie postback 1 to postbacks 2 and three—we’ll have to attend till SKAN 4.0 is right here to seek out out.

SKAdNetwork attributions for internet

What adjustments?

SKAdNetwork will begin supporting attribution for web-based advertisements that direct to the advertiser’s App Retailer web page.

What does this imply?

Campaigns operating in cell internet pages (totally different from in-app stock) can now be attributed by way of SKAN, whereas earlier variations may solely observe app-to-app and app-to-web campaigns.

What are the following steps for advertisers operating SKAdNetwork campaigns?

The introduction of coarse-grained conversion values and the brand new attribution home windows for postbacks means advertisers must rethink their general conversion worth mapping. Whereas there’s nonetheless no official launch date for SKAdNetwork 4.0, our advice is to begin preparing for this new framework as quickly as attainable.