Mobile App Ads | Installs and In-App Events
App campaigns are the most automated campaign type in Google Ads. You do not pick keywords, you do not pick placements, you do not design the ad. Google distributes inventory across Search, Play, YouTube and Display itself.
Where your control is
In three places: creative assets, the goal, and measurement. There is very little room to intervene beyond those, so getting these three right determines the whole campaign.
On the creative side you need text, images and video in various formats. If you supply no video, Google generates one from your store listing and it is usually weak. Providing material in different aspect ratios directly widens the inventory you can reach.
Installs or in-app events
This is the critical decision. A campaign targeting installs brings cheap installs, but a share of those users never open the app.
A campaign targeting in-app events brings more expensive installs but reaches people who actually use the product. For most businesses the second is correct — but it requires in-app events to be measured.
It does not work without measurement
Measurement on the app side is more fragile than on the web. To see what happens after an install, in-app events have to be measured and fed back to the advertising side.
Without that, the campaign only optimises install counts and brings low-quality users. Launching an app campaign without measurement is the same mistake as launching a search campaign without conversion tracking.
The store listing is part of the campaign
The ad takes the user to your store listing, and the conversion happens there. The title, description, screenshots and reviews on that listing directly determine the conversion rate.
However good the campaign is, a weak store listing lowers installs. So the listing should be reviewed before launching — this is the app equivalent of landing page optimisation.
How do we start? First I check whether your in-app measurement is in place and what state your store listing is in. If either is not ready, I tell you that first. You can reach me from the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I choose keywords in an app campaign?
No. Direction comes from creative assets, the goal and measurement signals. Keyword-level control does not exist in this campaign type.
Can one campaign cover both iOS and Android?
No, separate campaigns are required. The two platforms differ in measurement capability and cost structure; managing them together makes comparison impossible.
What should cost per install be?
It is calculated backwards from your expected revenue per user. Industry averages floating around mean nothing without knowing your own user value.
How do I work?
Work-hour packages
Tell me about your website and what you need on WhatsApp or by phone; we agree on a work block of somewhere between 5 and 40 hours and I start doing what is needed. What you get is not a calendar window — it is net working hours spent directly on your business. I can use 40 hours working three days straight, or deliberately spread it out and finish it over a year — whatever the work calls for. I do not spend my time estimating how long something will take, I spend it doing the work; every hour I spend has a lasting result on your site. We keep going for as long as you find it useful.
Why not monthly?
Is 40 hours a week?
On a fixed monthly fee both sides are watching the wrong thing: you watch a fixed cost, the other side watches how many more contracts like this they can line up. Working by the hour puts us both in front of the same thing — the real value of the work that got done. I know not having an upfront answer to "how much will this cost in total?" is the natural cost of this model. But instead of paying a fixed fee for months to a setup that is not producing results, you only pay for the qualified time spent on your work — and you see exactly where that time went, start to finish. That is why my clients keep coming back.