Attribution

Attribution is the process of deciding which ad or channel gets credit for an install or in-app action. In mobile, attribution is handled by a mobile measurement partner (MMP), which matches clicks and impressions to installs using device identifiers where permitted, or aggregated, privacy-preserving methods such as SKAdNetwork on iOS.

Attribution settings — lookback windows, click versus view-through, re-attribution rules — directly change reported results, so they should be agreed before a campaign starts. Attribution also feeds optimization: the post-install events your MMP reports back are what bidding systems learn from. Because attribution can over-credit some channels, especially retargeting, it is good practice to complement it with incrementality tests that compare exposed and unexposed groups.

When reviewing any partner's numbers, start by confirming that both sides use the same attribution windows, because mismatched settings are the most common cause of reporting gaps between a DSP and an MMP.