Data sources overview
Catchbase combines three integrations to build one view of your Apple Ads performance. Apple Ads supplies spend and ad-engagement metrics. The mobile measurement partner (MMP), either Adjust or AppsFlyer, supplies revenue cohorts and custom events. App Store Connect (ASC) supplies App Store metadata and organic App Store performance data. This page explains which metric comes from which source and how they fit together.
What comes from Apple Ads
Apple Ads is the source of record for ad-engagement and spend metrics, delivered daily: impressions, taps, tap installs (installs Apple attributes to a tap, shown in the UI as "Installs (Tap-Through)"), and spend in the campaign's local currency. Apple Ads also provides the campaign, ad group, and keyword identifiers.
Apple Ads does not provide revenue data. Derived ratios such as Tap-through Rate (TTR), Conversion Rate (CVR), Cost-per-Tap (CPT), and Cost-per-Install (CPI) are computed in Catchbase from Apple Ads fields and shown under Cost Metrics and Ad Performance in the UI.
What comes from the MMP
The MMP supplies the revenue and event data Apple Ads cannot see. Catchbase matches MMP events to Apple Ads taps by identifier. Two streams flow in:
- Cohorted revenue: Revenue D0, D1, D7, D14, D30, and lifetime Revenue. Adjust reports these cohorts natively; for AppsFlyer, Catchbase computes them from raw events using install time and event time.
- Custom events: any event you select during MMP setup becomes selectable as a campaign objective, and surfaces in the analytics tables as
<Event> (Count),<Event> (Revenue),<Event> (ROAS), and<Event> (CPA)columns.
Cohorted metrics need time to mature. Catchbase trims the most recent N days from D7, D14, and D30 ROAS so incomplete cohorts do not distort analysis. See Revenue and cohorts.
What comes from App Store Connect
ASC provides two things Apple Ads cannot: App Store-side assets, and App Analytics performance data.
- Assets: ad creatives attached to your Apple Ads ads, Custom Product Pages (CPPs) used to pair creatives with landing pages in Creative Studio, and the app list that ASC reports cover.
- App Analytics performance data: daily App Store engagement, downloads, and usage broken down by source (App Store Search, App Store Browse, App Referrer, Web Referrer). The metrics ingested are Impressions, Product Page Views, App Units (first-time downloads), Redownloads, Total Downloads, Installations, and Deletions. Catchbase uses the App Store Search slice of these metrics as the organic baseline in Incrementality, so lift is measured against organic installs from App Store Search rather than total organic installs.
Data is pulled for the apps you bound at key-save time; adding a new app requires updating the ASC key.
How the pieces fit
For any campaign or keyword, Catchbase reads spend and engagement from Apple Ads, revenue and events from the MMP, and creative context from ASC. Attribution dates matter: revenue is attributed by install date, spend by ad-event date, so daily ROAS can be noisy and weekly or monthly aggregates are more stable. See Revenue and cohorts.
For field-level definitions of every metric on the dashboard, see the Metrics glossary.