Key concepts

If you have run Apple Ads before, the first two sections on this page will be review. The terms specific to Catchbase are at the bottom.

Platforms and data partners

Apple Ads (AA) is Apple's paid search inside the App Store. Catchbase connects to Apple Ads to read campaign performance and to write bid and keyword changes back.

App Store Connect (ASC) is Apple's publishing console for iOS apps. Catchbase uses an ASC key to read app metadata and to publish Custom Product Pages.

Mobile measurement partner (MMP) is a third-party attribution service. Catchbase supports Adjust and AppsFlyer. The MMP tells Catchbase which installs came from Apple Ads, what those users did afterwards, and how much revenue they generated.

Campaign structure

Campaign is the top-level container in Apple Ads. It has a daily budget, an objective, a KPI, and one or more ad groups.

Ad group sits inside a campaign. Each ad group owns its own keywords and its own bid strategy; a single campaign usually contains several, each for a different theme.

Keyword is a search term a user might type into the App Store. Catchbase manages keyword lists at the ad-group level.

Search terms are the exact search queries users enter in Apple Ads. Apple matches these search terms to your keywords. How these matches are made depends on the match type each of your keywords has.

Match type decides whether a user's search triggers your keyword. The three types are exact, broad, and negative. Negatives exclude rather than include.

Bid (Max CPT Bid) is the most you are willing to pay for one tap on an ad that was triggered by a particular keyword.

Ad placements

Apple Ads shows ads in four places across the App Store. A campaign is scoped to one placement, set when the campaign is created in Apple Ads.

Search Results. Ads shown at the top of the search results page when someone searches in the App Store. Keyword-targeted; this is where most Apple Ads spend goes.
Search Tab. Ads shown on the App Store's Search tab before the user has typed anything. Not keyword-targeted; the ad is shown to all users landing on the tab in the campaign's markets.
Today Tab. Ads shown on the Today tab, the App Store's editorial surface. Audience-based rather than keyword-based, useful for launch and awareness campaigns.
Product Pages. Ads shown near the bottom of another app's product page while the user is browsing. Keyword-targeted, with matching against the page the user is viewing.

Catchbase's bidding model supports all four placements. Keyword-level bid management applies wherever a placement uses keywords (Search Results and Product Pages); for the non-keyword placements (Search Tab and Today Tab) the model works against the single bid Apple Ads exposes on the campaign.

What Catchbase optimises against

Objective Metric is the campaign's goal, set in Catchbase as tap-through installs, an MMP event, or revenue. It determines which KPI and target type apply.

Target is the cost or return you will accept. Two target types are supported: CPO (cost per objective — covers cost per install and cost per acquisition on a named event) and ROAS (return on ad spend).

Cohort is a group of installs keyed on install date. "Revenue D7" means revenue earned within seven days of install, counted against the install day rather than the revenue day.

Attribution and incrementality

Attribution assigns an install or event to an ad touchpoint. Apple does it one way, your MMP does it another, and the two numbers often disagree. The Data section explains why, and what to do when they do.