Advertising Advertising Editor Advertising Intelligence

Link your apps in your ad

App Extensions are additional elements that promote your apps across PCs, tablets, and smartphones from your ad.
Note

We're redesigning Microsoft Advertising, so the steps to complete a task may be different based on the version you're using. Learn more about the redesign and which version you're using.

App Extensions are additional elements of your ad that promote your apps across PCs, tablets, and smartphones from your ad. Here are a few key benefits of using App Extensions:

  • Adding an App Extension to your ad is free and you only pay when your App Extension link is clicked.
  • Promoting app installs in your ad increases downloads and usage of your apps, in addition to website visits.
  • Clicks and app installs can be tracked as conversions at the campaign and ad group levels.

With App Extensions, a customer’s device and operating system is automatically detected and will take the user directly to the correct app store, unlike Sitelink Extensions. If you’re currently using a Sitelink Extension to promote your app, switch to App Extensions moving forward. Sitelinks are great to take customers to specific pages on your website but isn’t designed to take them directly to the app store. As a result, a sitelink could direct customers to the wrong app store.

App Extension

App Extensions can be created or edited at the account, campaign, or ad group level. To select the level you want to make the changes in, select Account, Campaign, or Ad group below the Ad Extensions tab (or under Extensions from the top of the page).

How do I add an App Extension?expando image
  1. From the main menu on the left, click All campaigns.
  2. From the page menu, click Ads & extensions.
  3. From the top of the page, click Extensions.
  4. If not already selected, click App Extensions and select Account, Campaign, or Ad group.
  5. Click Create ad extension > Add new App Extension.
  6. Select your Mobile operating system.
  7. Enter your Package name. The package name can be found in the URL of the app from the respective app store.

    Look up the app ID/package name:

    App Store: Windows Store
    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab

    App Store: Windows Phone Store
    http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab)

    App Store: Google Play
    http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.appname

    App Store: Apple App Store
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/example-app-name/id#########

  8. In the Link text, enter the text you want customers to click in your ad to download your app.
  9. Optional: To set this app as the preferred extension, under Device preference, select Mobile.
  10. Enter the App/Measurement URL. This is an app-specific measurement URL that is provided by a Microsoft Advertising-certified partner, along with an SDK, to track App Extension installs as conversions. Visit the following sites to create the third-party measurement URL:

    Otherwise, if you do not want to report app installs, enter the app URL from the Windows Store, the Windows Phone Store, the Apple App Store, or Google Play, where users can directly access the app store to download the app.

  11. Expand Selected days and hours to set the date range, schedule display time, and time zone details.
  12. Click Save.

Note:

  • If you want to report app install conversions, you will have to sign up with a Microsoft Advertising-certified partner to be able to view app installs as conversions within Microsoft Advertising report.
  • When you include app installs as conversions, it will create a goal for you. If you decide to not include app installs as conversions at a later time, keep in mind that the goal must be disabled through the Goals and Conversions page, as unchecking this box will not disable the goal. Learn more about tracking conversions and other site goals.
  1. Click Campaigns at the top of the page.
  2. Click the Ad Extensions tab.
  3. If not already selected, click App Extensions and select Account, Campaign, or Ad group.
  4. Click Create new App Extension and select the campaign and ad group you want to add the app extension to.
  5. Select Available apps. The Selected apps will appear in the right window.
  6. Select your Mobile operating system.
  7. Enter your App ID/Package name. The app ID/package name can be found in the URL of the app from the respective app store.

    Look up the app ID/package name:

    App Store: Windows Store
    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab

    App Store: Windows Phone Store
    http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab)

    App Store: Google Play
    http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.appname

    App Store: Apple App Store
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/example-app-name/id#########

  8. In Link text, enter the text you want customers to click in your ad to download your app.
  9. Optional: To set this app as the preferred extension, under Device preference, select Mobile.
  10. Enter the App or Measurement URL. This is an app-specific measurement URL that is provided by a Microsoft Advertising-certified partner, along with an SDK, to track App Extension installs as conversions. Visit the following sites to create the third-party measurement URL:

    Otherwise, if you do not want to report app installs, enter the app URL from the Windows Store, the Windows Phone Store, the Apple App Store, or Google Play, where users can directly access the app store to download the app.

  11. Click Apply.
  12. Click Save.

If you want to report app install conversions, you will have to sign up with a Microsoft Advertising-certified partner to be able to view app installs as conversions within Microsoft Advertising report.

Note: When you include app installs as conversions, it will create a goal for you. If you decide to not include app installs as conversions at a later time, keep in mind that the goal must be disabled through the Goals and Conversions page, as unchecking this box will not disable the goal. Learn more about tracking conversions and other site goals.


What are app install tracking goals?

You can track conversions and other site activity for any of your campaigns by creating goals. A goal is an event on your website that you want to track to measure the success of your campaign. When creating a goal, use the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag and write your own code for event goals, but app install tracking goals are different – they’re tag-less! This means that you won’t have to add the code to your website to track and measure user activity. When you create your goal for mobile app install, they’ll be created automatically.

Note

App Install Ads are available in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, India, United Kingdom, and on iOS and Android only. For Android app, Microsoft Advertising only support apps available in the United States Google Play Store. Only apps available in the United States in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are currently supported. There is no support for Windows or Windows Phone.

How do I create a goal for app installs?expando image
Important

When setting your mobile app install goal in this section, you are not creating the mobile App Extension. Learn how to add an App Extension in the section above.

Follow the steps to create a goal for app installs:

  1. From the global menu, click Tools > Conversion goals, which will take you to the previous version of Microsoft Advertising.
  2. On the conversion goals page, click Create conversion goal.
  3. Enter a name for your goal in the Goal name box. When naming your goal, use a descriptive name that makes sense to you (for example, "iOS hotel booking app").
  4. Choose the Mobile app install goal type and select the applicable operating system. Enter the Package name/App ID.

    App Store: Windows Store
    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab

    App Store: Windows Phone Store
    http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab)

    App Store: Google Play
    http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.appname

    App Store: Apple App Store
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/example-app-name/id#########

  5. Optional: You can also assign a Goal value to the conversion and enter a conversion period to track up to 90 days in the past.
  6. Click Save.
  1. On the conversion goals page, click Create conversion goal.
  2. Enter a name for your goal in the Goal name box. When naming your goal, use a descriptive name that makes sense to you (for example, "iOS hotel booking app").
  3. Choose the Mobile app install goal type and select the applicable operating system. Enter the Package name/App ID.

    App Store: Windows Store
    http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab

    App Store: Windows Phone Store
    http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/example-app-name/12345678-9abc-1234-1234-1234567890ab)

    App Store: Google Play
    http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.appname

    App Store: Apple App Store
    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/example-app-name/id#########

  4. Optional: You can also assign a Goal value to the conversion and enter a conversion period to track up to 90 days in the past.
  5. Click Save.

Keeping track of your app installs

What happens after a customer clicks on your ad? The specific actions you want customers to complete after viewing your ad are called goal conversions and you can find out:

  • The ad campaigns that are most effective
  • The keywords that lead to better conversions
  • The ROI of your advertising dollars
  • The audiences that have higher conversions
  • How many people install your app

See more videos...