SKAdNetwork attribution window

SKAdNetwork attribution window

SKAdNetwork attribution window is the time period between a user’s ad interaction (click or view) and the conversion (install).

Technically, there are two types of attribution windows with SKAdNetwork:

  • Ad interaction – from tap/click or impression to Install
  • App Launch – from install to first app launch

Ad interaction attribution window

Click attribution (StoreKit-rendered ad / web ad) – the time from click/tap to install

  • 30 days

Example: User sees an ad for a travel app and tap on the ad right away, but doesn’t install the app. A week later the user remembers about the planned vacation so they go to the app store and download and install the app. This user is going to be attributed to the ad campaign by SKAdNetwork. If they click and install the app after 30 days, they will not be attributed to the ad campaign.

View attribution (view-through ad) – the time from impression to install

  • 24 hours

Example: User sees an ad for a travel app, but doesn’t tap on the ad. A couple of hours later the user remembers about the planned vacation so they go to the app store and download and install the app. This user is going to be attributed to the ad campaign by SKAdNetwork. If they tap and install the app after 24 hours after the have viewed the, they will not be attributed to the ad campaign.

App launch attribution window

Install attribution – the time from install to app launch

  • 60 days

Example: User sees an ad for an app and tap on the ad and installs it. However, they don’t launch the app right away. Three weeks later the user remembers about the app and launches it. This user is going to be attributed to the ad campaign by SKAdNetwork. If they open the app after 60 days, they will not be attributed to the ad campaign.

SKAdNetwork Attribution logic

  • SKAdNetwork follows last-touch attribution logic – conversion (eg install) is attributed to an ad that a user has interacted with the latest. Click always win against impression in this logic.
  • Attribution windows in SKAdNetwork are predetermined and non-configurable.
  • Theoretically, it can take a user up to 90 days to be attributed to a campaign – it took them 30 days to install the app after a click and 60 days to launch an app.
  • SKAdNetwork attribution window is the same across all ad networks. There are no exceptions for Self Attribution Networks (eg Facebook, Google) like it used to be with deterministic attribution.
  • The web attribution window is the same as the in-app window for clicks/taps.
  • There is no view-through attribution for the web.

Source

Conversion Windows

Starting from the fourth version, SKadNetwork also supports 3 conversion windows (third version had only one such window). Conversion window is the time between the moment a user launched an app and when they triggered a certain event Conversion Value. This should not be confused with attribution window, because it presents an independent process that happens after attribution. You can read more about Conversion Windows in the SKadNetwork Conversion Values page.

With that said, Conversion Values postback can be used to obtain valuable information about users’ attribution type.

Advertisers can filter out click and impression attribution based on the field fidelity-type in the Conversion Value postback.

 "fidelity-type":  0

0 value means view-through attribution

 "fidelity-type":  1

1 value means click-through attribution