SKAdNetwork
StoreKit Ad Network (SKAN)
Apple's privacy-preserving mobile attribution framework for iOS. SKAdNetwork allows ad networks to measure app installs without accessing device-level data, relying instead on aggregated, delayed postbacks from Apple.
How SKAdNetwork works in practice
SKAN 4.0 (released 2023) introduced hierarchical source identifiers allowing finer campaign segmentation, improved measurement windows (3 postback windows instead of 1), and partial support for web-to-app attribution — significant advances over SKAN 3.0 which severely limited measurement granularity. The delayed and probabilistic nature of SKAN postbacks means real-time campaign optimisation is impossible without MMP-level statistical modelling to fill the attribution gap during the postback delay period. Understanding the conversion value schema — how to map business events (registration, deposit, subscription) to the 6-bit value space available in SKAN — is critical for extracting meaningful optimisation signals from SKAN postbacks. Any performance marketer running iOS app install campaigns must understand SKAN to interpret reporting correctly and avoid misallocating budget based on incomplete postback data.
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Hi, I'm Wameq.
If installs are up but activation is flat, the onboarding funnel is where I'd start.
Let's talk →This term sits in the Mobile & App category, which means it is most useful when evaluating app acquisition, onboarding, retention, and in-app activation. The goal is not to memorize the label. The goal is to know when it should change a decision, a page, a campaign, or a measurement setup.
Related terms
Apple's native advertising platform that places ads at the top of App Store search results. It supports Basic and Advanced campaign types and provides high-intent traffic for app install campaigns with strong conversion rates.
A third-party analytics platform — AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch — that tracks and attributes mobile app installs and in-app events to the correct marketing source, providing the source of truth for mobile campaign performance.
The process of attracting new users to a mobile app or digital product through paid and organic channels. Measured primarily by install volume, CPI, and downstream engagement and retention metrics.
Put SKAdNetwork to work
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