Google Ads App campaigns promote installation and in-app conversions for your Android or iOS apps across Google’s top properties including Search, Play, YouTube, and the Google Display Network. They are more streamlined than mobile app-installs and mobile app engagement campaigns.
What is an App campaign?
Unlike most Google Ads campaigns, you don't design individual ads for App campaigns. Instead, Google Ads uses your ad text ideas and assets from your app's store listing to design a variety of ads across several formats and networks. All you need to do is provide some text, a starting bid and budget, and the languages and locations for your ads. Google Ads then tests different combinations and shows ads that are performing the best more often, with no extra work needed from you.
To help you get the best value from each download, Google Ads also automates targeting and bidding. You can optimize your campaign targeting to focus on finding valuable users based on actions you care about, like in-app conversions.
What does Search Ads 360 support?
If you sign into Google Ads and create an App campaign, you can sync the campaign into Search Ads 360. Then you can use Search Ads 360 to report on the campaign. Note the following about reporting on App campaigns:
- Reporting is available only at the campaign level or higher. Search Ads 360 does not report on ad assets.
- In addition to engine metrics, Search Ads 360 can show conversions that are recorded by Google Ads conversion tracking and are attributed to clicks on any Google property supported by App campaigns (such as Google Search, Play, YouTube, and the Google Display Network).
If you add a column that reports Google Ads conversions, the summary row at the bottom of the Campaigns tab shows the number of conversions attributed to each property. Conversion credit attributed to the Search property appears in the Total - search row. Conversion credit attributed to the Google Display Network appears in the Total - display row. All other conversion credit appears in the Total - other row.
- Hourly reports at the campaign level or higher include data from App campaigns.
- You can apply labels and business data to App campaigns. Since these campaigns do not contain ad groups or keywords, labels and business data can only be applied at the campaign level.
When reporting on labels, only the label summary report on the Labels page and the campaign report on the Campaigns tab include data from App campaigns.
When using business data to organize reports, data from App campaigns appears only if you're scoped to engine account level or higher. - Executive reports can include data from App campaigns.
Search Ads 360 does not support creating or editing App campaigns. If you try to edit an App campaign from Search Ads 360, Search Ads 360 will report a trafficking error. To clear the trafficking error, manually sync the account and select Fix all trafficking errors. You can edit App campaigns from Google Ads and sync the change into Search Ads 360.
In addition, the following Search Ads 360 features cannot be used with App campaigns:
- Floodlight reporting. App campaigns do not report Floodlight conversions.
- Bid strategies cannot manage bids in App campaigns.
Report on App campaigns in Search Ads 360
- Navigate to an advertiser or Google Ads engine account.
- Click the Campaigns tab.
If you've synced in App campaigns, the campaigns appear in the reporting table along with other types of campaigns. - To view Google Ads conversions attributed to the campaigns, add Google Ads conversion columns to the report.
- To see the total conversion credit attributed to Search, Display, or other Google properties, view the summary row at the bottom of the report.