App Channel Tracking and Analytics

Common App channel tracking methods

1. Android: ship a separate channel package per partner — each install bundle embeds a distinct Channel ID.

2. iOS channel tracking

IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) is Apple's ad identifier. Ad networks can read a user's IDFA; when your app is installed from their placement, your app can read IDFA too. Match the network's IDFA with yours to attribute the channel.

iOS 9 added SFSafariViewController — better UX and shared cookies between apps and Safari. When a user taps an ad link, the tracking server receives channel info in the cookie; on App Store install/activation, it receives the cookie again. Matching the two cookies attributes the channel.

Channel data analysis

1. Volume: find the channel with the lowest customer acquisition cost
2. Quality: find the channel with the highest customer value

Analyzing highest-value acquisition channels

1. User behavior data

Analyze new-user retention by utm_source: channel 2 shows 14% 30-day retention vs. 8% for channel 1 and 6% for channel 3. By retention, channel 2's users are clearly more valuable.

2. Financial metrics are also highly informative.

Value generated by user spending.