Ad Attribution (AdAttributionKit)

Ad Attribution (AdAttributionKit)

You can't optimize paid traffic you can't measure. AdAttributionKit is Apple's privacy-preserving attribution framework — interoperable with SKAdNetwork, and the go-forward path (it also works in alternative marketplaces). This skill covers the advertised-app side: what an indie running paid campaigns must implement and how to design conversion signals that survive privacy thresholds.

Note the seam: Apple Ads attribution uses the AdServices framework, not AdAttributionKit — campaigns there are measured in the Apple Ads console (see app-store/apple-search-ads). This skill is for every other paid channel (ad networks, social, publishers).

When This Skill Activates

• Running or planning paid user acquisition outside Apple Ads
• "How do I know which campaign drove installs?" / measuring re-engagement ads
• Designing or debugging conversion values / postbacks
• Migrating from SKAdNetwork (fully interoperable — registered networks need no re-enrollment)

How it works (the 60-second model)

Ad network signs an ad (compact JWS impression) → publisher app shows it → user installs (or re-engages) → after a privacy-delayed measurement window, a postback with your conversion info goes to the ad network (and optionally to you). Attribution requires no user tracking; the price is coarser data, governed by crowd anonymity.

Conversion-value strategy (the part that's actually yours)

• Two granularities: fine value 0–63 and coarse low/medium/high. Low crowd sizes downgrade fine → coarse and can trim the 4-digit campaign source-identifier to as few as its first 2 digits — so encode what matters most (campaign family, geo tier) in the first two digits, detail in the rest.
• Map values to revenue-predictive early behavior (completed onboarding, trial start, first purchase), not vanity events. 64 slots go fast; reserve ranges (e.g. 0–15 activation, 16–47 monetization ladder, 48–63 reserved).
• Update with updateConversionValue(_:) / PostbackUpdate; set lockPostback when the value is final to schedule transmission (still privacy-delayed, never instant).
• Re-engagement postbacks are separate from install postbacks: update them independently via conversionTypes (.install / .reengagement); the first re-engagement update must land within 48 hours.