[physcab]

From their ad copy they say 65% of all downloads come from app store search. If this is true, this is bad news for FB. A huge chunk of FB revenue comes from mobile app install ads bc that was the only method large app developers had to send users to their apps. I previously worked at a gaming firm that spent $5M/month on these types of ads.

If App Store search is effective, this will swing ad budgets away. FB still has all the demographic and audience info, but arguably none of that is important bc all you want to do in those types of ads is attract users who spent. Apple is at the top of the chain, they can do this better than FB bc they have reliable transaction data and FB has to rely on properly instrumented SDKs, then use machine learning to figure out who "might" be a spender, then have the marketing person optimize those ads. Wouldn't you rather just say, target anyone who has previously made a purchase in a game and be done with it?

Another note. I once created a niche utility app that I eventually had to takedown because as an indie dev it was difficult to rise above the ranks, even if the apps above mine were super shitty. I'm going to resurrect that app tonight bc for the first time this might be an effective form of user acquisition. FB ads were terrible bc it is not intent-based and Adwords were terrible because people don't search Google for apps then pull out their phones to download apps (or search in Safari then switch to App Store).

[CatMtKing]

I only use the search when I know what app I'm looking for. Wouldn't that would drive up the numbers artificially -- as I had the intention of downloading the app before I began searching.

[kalleboo]

Exactly, the statistic you need is "how many downloads came through keyword searches that weren't the app name".

[zbuttram]

I wouldn't think so, not if they're saying a percentage of all downloads come from search, as opposed to a percentage of all searches lead to a download.

[hasbroslasher]

But searching is the only way (sane) people find anything on the App Store. When was the last time you browsed the store until you found the cool new app you just read about?

Whenever I use the App store, I'm on a mission. But it's also a mission to get free stuff, so maybe I'm not even part of the equation.

[suprfnk]

I agree. Whenever I download an app it's because I read or heard about it somewhere else. Open the app store, head to search, type name, tap install.

I don't think I've casually browsed around the app store since I got my first iPhone (first smartphone), around 2009 or 10.

[dhimes]

Me too. But I am skeptical of free stuff and almost always look for a paid version.

[hkmurakami]

FB will still be better for "app discovery" that was not intended by the user.

How many times do you visit the App Store without already had an intent to download a specific app or a specific app category? Compare that to how often you visit the FB timeline. The intrusiveness of FB ads hitting your brain when you had no internal motivation for look for another app is why FB ads will continue to be powerful.

[physcab]

Yea, historically FB is for demand generation and Google for capturing intent. There wasn't really a good solution for iOS. Adwords weren't terribly effective on iOS but Android may be a different story. So I'm sure FB isn't shaking in their boots or anything but I do think there are sizable budgets dedicated to FB bc that was the only truly scalable method of user acquisition on iOS.

[r00fus]

Do App Store search ads show up as Spotlight results?

i.e., in iOS9, when I searched for "spotify" in Spotlight, I'd get App Store results.

[gnopgnip]

How do you account for the users that saw an ad, and then searched on the app store instead of clicking the add?

[physcab]

What we call this in the industry is "attribution" and there is a whole sub-industry to deal with this bc it is a complex problem. In short, gaming right now uses last-click attribution so the last advertiser gets credit. FB does influence behavior for sure, though that is difficult to quantify.

[electrum]

Facebook Atlas has multi-touch attribution: https://atlassolutions.com/insights/measuring-business-resul...

[disgruntledphd2]

Yeah, so Apple are essentially putting themselves in as the end-point of the funnel, which will cause advertisers using last-click to attribute more value to them versus FB/other mobile networks.

[wastedhours]

"View through" conversions are quite a large area, especially in programmatic. MTA is an important field, but would obviously need to be implemented with some form of in-app tracking tied to your ad providers.

[roryisok]

You should get one of those hotstring expansion apps like expander and program ' bc ' to make ' because '. I keep reading it as British Colombia