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Apple Search Ads, explained for people who build apps

No jargon and no averages from somebody else’s app. Ten things worth understanding before you spend anything — and each one says what to do about it.

• Is Apple Search Ads worth it for a small app? It depends on one number — and the usual mistakes have nothing to do with keywords.
• How much does Apple Search Ads cost? There is no list price. Here is what you actually pay, and how to tell whether it is too much.
• The cheapest countries for app installs There is no list you can look up — it depends on your app. Here is how to find yours in a fortnight, and the trap at the end of it.
• How to choose keywords for Apple Search Ads The hard part is not finding words. It is telling a bad one from one you judged too early.
• Negative keywords: the money you stop losing Adding keywords is the fun part. The money is in the subtractions.
• Exact match vs Search Match They are not alternatives. One finds, the other keeps — and the loop between them is the account.
• Impression share, and what Apple will not tell you A band rather than a number, whole weeks only, and nothing at all about anybody else. What it reports, measured rather than assumed — and the two readings that call for opposite actions.
• Maximize Conversions: when to let Apple bid You hand over the bidding and keep one number. That number is the whole campaign.
• ROAS is the wrong number for a subscription app The same campaign can read 0.3 at seven days and 2.1 at ninety. Here is why, and the single figure that every bid decision actually follows from.
• Apple Ads vs Apple Search Ads Same product, new name, and a few new places your ad can appear.

Or skip the reading: the agent builds the plan for your app — the keywords, the countries and what a tap should cost — and shows it to you before anything goes live.

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