Learn how to handle data discrepancies in Apple Search Ads with use cases and real examples from ShyftUp, a user acquisition agency working with Evernote. We have also covered the IDFA changes with iOS 14 and how the ASA ecosystem is likely to get affected once the iOS 14 is live.

1. By Levent Sapci - Founder at ShyftUp
How to Handle Data Discrepancies
Use Cases with ShyftUp
Shyft

2. Section 1 Introduction
Section 2 What’s changing with iOS 14 and how will it affect
mobile app industry?
Section 3
Section 4
What currently causes install discrepancies
between Apple Search Ads and MMPs?
Which approach is right for you? Minimize data
discrepancies or work your way around them?
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Pros and cons of excluding LAT On users
How to exclude LAT On users and redownloads
on Apple Search Ads
How to measure performance of LAT On users
Agenda

3. Section 1 Introduction

4. ● Led the marketing team at Hotspot Shield VPN (AnchorFree) between 2011-2017.
● Oversaw acquisition of 500 million+ users for Hotspot Shield.
● Started mobile user acquisition agency ShyftUp in 2017.
● Focusing solely on App Store Optimization (ASO) and Apple Search Ads.
● Current clients include Square, Evernote, TuneIn Radio, Rosetta Stone, AllTrails,
Funimate and more.
● Contact: levent@shyftup.com
Levent Sapci & ShyftUp Introduction

5. Company Overview
2013
2018
Founded, released MobileAction.co
Launched, SearchAds.com BETA
2019.2 SearchAds.com started as a SaaS product
2020.1 Apple Search Ads Partner
1. ASO Intelligence (App Store Intelligence)
2. Market Intelligence (DL, Revenue, MAU, DAU)
3. Ad Intelligence (creative, ad network share)
4. SDK Intelligence (App tech stack analysis)
5. Custom alerts (advanced
notifications center)
1000+
Customers
+60%
Revenue
YoY, 2019
$6M+
ASA Monthly
Spend
1000+
API
Connected
65
Countries
App Store
keywords
database
Yusuf Barutcu
Apple Search Ads Advisor at
SearchAds.com

6. Section 2 What’s changing with iOS 14 and how will
it affect mobile app industry?

7. ● IDFA: The identifier for advertisers. Apple’s unique ID assigned to each iOS device.
● LAT: Limit Ad Tracking. iOS users can opt out of receiving targeted ads. Users may
still receive the same number of ads, but the ads may be less relevant to them.
Can be turned on or off by the user. When off, Apple Search Ads can pass the IDFA
through its Attribution API to 3rd parties (i.e. advertisers, MMPs, etc.)
LAT comes off by default. The user needs to turn it on by going into the device
Settings, where it’s well hidden. It takes 4 steps to find and enable it.
A few definitions

8. ● All apps will be required to obtain user consent for tracking.
● The LAT setting is being deprecated. Targeting, tracking, and attribution will be
controlled by different user settings.
● The ad network API called SKAdNetwork will be updated.
What’s changing with iOS 14?

9. ● What is the SKAdNetwork
framework?
○ The API helps advertisers
measure the success of ad
campaigns while
maintaining user privacy.
○ Ad networks must register
with Apple, and developers
must configure their apps
to work with ad networks.
About the SKAdNetwork

10. ● Very few users will opt in to share their IDFA’s. The permission prompt is too scary.
● Therefore, tracking users through IDFA is effectively coming to an end with iOS 14.
Ad networks, advertisers and MMPs will have to find other ways to track and
attribute users (i.e. SKAdNetwork, Fingerprinting, etc.).
● MMPs: They won’t be able to use IDFA for attribution and will have to rely on their
fingerprinting technologies, which are less precise than IDFA because it is a
probabilistic method of attribution, based on device IP and user agent.
● Advertisers: Attribution and tracking will be less precise. Measuring ROI will be a
little more difficult. This might impact marketing budgets.
● Ad Networks: They will have to integrate with SKAdNetwork, which will provide
some basic insights for tracking and attribution but it doesn’t seem to be
sufficient support a number of marketing practices such as lookalike targeting,
retargeting, etc.
ShyftUp’s expected implications of iOS 14

11. Section 3
What currently causes
install discrepancies between
Apple Search Ads and MMPs?

12. ● Why are install numbers reported on Apple Search Ads much higher than the
number of installs the MMPs attribute Apple Search Ads?
○ Installs from users with LAT On
○ Redownloads
○ Installs vs. App Opens
Data discrepancies and their causes

13. ● For a client, installs reported for one of their campaigns on Apple Search Ads vs
their MMP in a 30-day period while LAT On users were targeted:
Data discrepancies and their causes
47k installs
Apple Search Ads
● For another client, installs reported for one of their campaigns on Apple Search
Ads vs their MMP in a 30-day period while LAT On users were excluded:
24k installs
Their MMP
66k installs
Apple Search Ads
56k installs
Their MMP
48.93%
15.15%

14. Section 4 Which approach is right for you?
Minimize data discrepancies or work your
way around them?

15. ● Approach #1: Minimize data discrepancies
○ Eliminate the reasons that are the major reasons for data discrepancies.
○ Exclude LAT On users from your targeting.
○ Exclude returning users from your targeting.
○ Data discrepancies between Apple Search Ads and MMPs will be minimized.
○ More peace of mind due to less reliance on estimations.
○ Measuring performance and performing optimizations will be much easier.
○ Pool of users that can be targeted will be limited. More difficult to scale
volume of acquisition.
○ Makes more sense if you have a limited budget and if you’re already able to
hit your targets without LAT On users or redownloads.
How to approach data discrepancies

16. ● Approach #2: Work your way around data discrepancies
○ Understand and accept the reasons causing data discrepancies.
○ Include LAT On users in your targeting.
○ Include returning users in your targeting.
○ Data discrepancies between Apple Search Ads and MMPs will increase.
○ Will have to rely more on estimates and assumptions.
○ Measuring performance and performing optimizations will be more
complicated.
○ Pool of users that can be targeted will be much larger. Much easier to scale
volume of acquisition.
○ Makes more sense if you’re trying to scale your acquisition as much as
possible as long as KPI targets are met.
How to approach data discrepancies

17. Section 5 Pros and cons of excluding LAT On users

18. Pros and Cons of Excluding LAT On Users
Pros
Target a much larger
audience and build an
acquisition program
with a larger scale.
For the same budget,
unit cost per acquisition
may be lower.
Cons
LAT On users will be
attributed to organic on
MMP.
MMP will underreport
installs and in-app
events for Apple Search
Ads.
You will have to rely on
estimates and
assumptions to
measure performance.

19. Section 6 How to exclude LAT On users and
redownloads on Apple Search Ads

20. ● This needs to be done at
the Adgroup level in the
Adgroup settings.
● To include all users
(both LAT On and off) in
your targeting, keep Age
Range and Gender “All”.
● To exclude LAT On
users, change the Age
Range from “All” to “18-
65+”.
How to include or exclude LAT On users

21. ● This needs to be done at
the Adgroup level in the
Adgroup settings.
● To include all users
(New and returning
users) in your targeting,
select “All users”.
● To exclude
redownloads, select
“New users”.
How to include or exclude Redownloads

22. Section 7 How to measure performance of LAT On
users

23. ● “Estimate” is probably a more accurate statement than “measure”.
● Apple Search Ads reports the breakdown of installs based on LAT On vs. LAT Off.
Step 1: Calculate the LAT On rate of your Apple Search Ads installs (Lat On
installs / Total installs)
Step 2: Take the install and in-app event stats from your MMP. These metrics
will only be for the LAT Off users. We will make the assumption that LAT On users
perform the same as LAT off.
Step 3: Apply the LAT On rate to these install and in-app event stats to
estimate the total (LAT On + LAT Off) number of installs and in-app events that the
MMP should have reported. (“MMP Installs” / (1 - “LAT On Rate”))
How to measure the performance of LAT users

24. ● Running Apple Search Ads campaigns for an app.
● Campaigns are targeting all users, including LAT On.
● For a given time period:
○ Apple Search Ads reports: 1,000 total installs with $2,000 spend
■ LAT On: 300 installs
■ LAT Off: 700 installs
○ MMP reports:
■ 600 installs
■ 300 Registration events
● How do you measure the Registration CAC?
○ Is it $2,000 / 300 = $6.66? NO!
Case Study

25. ● Step 1: Calculate the LAT On rate
○ 300 LAT On installs / 1,000 total installs = 30% LAT On Rate
● Step 2: Take the install and in-app event stats from your MMP.
○ 600 installs
○ 300 Registration events
● Step 3: Apply the LAT On rate to these install and in-app event stats to estimate
the total (LAT On + LAT Off) number of installs and in-app events.
○ 600 installs / (1 - 0.3) = 857 installs
○ 300 Registration events / (1 - 0.3) = 428 Registration Events
● Registration CAC: $2,000 / 428 = $4.67
Case Study

26. ● For the sake of simplicity, the calculations and estimations are done on the
account level.
● Since Apple Search Ads reports LAT On and LAT Off installs on account, campaign,
adgroup and keyword levels, same calculations can be done on each level.
● For example, you can estimate the performance of a single keyword with the
same calculations.
● SearchAds.com automates these calculations with their “Campaign LAT On
Factor” functionality.
Case Study

27. The End Questions?
Contact: levent@shyftup.com

28. July 2nd Getting Started with Apple Search Ads
July 9th Tuning up Apple Search Ads with Live Example
July 16th
July 23rd
Tracking and Automating Ad Activities
How to Find the Best Keywords to Scale Campaigns
July 29th Solving Data Discrepancies & Advanced Reporting
Coming up next: The Ultimate Apple Search Ads Course
Everything you need to know, from beginner to pro
level
https://bit.ly/ultimate-asa-courseRegister now: