Apple Ads, formerly Apple Search Ads, marks Apple’s expansion into a full-scale advertising platform. As it becomes a more reliable paid media channel for iOS it’s important to reassess your marketing strategy to take advantage of Apple Ads’ growing potential.
Apple’s First-Party Data and Intent Advantage
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework has limited data for most platforms. But Apple continues to thrive by leveraging first-party App Store data.
Intent driven Search Ads boast conversion rates over 60%. This success is driven by user intent. App Store users are ready to download, not just browse.
These insights make Apple Ads ideal for iOS acquisition campaigns.
Basic vs. Advanced Campaigns in Apple Ads
Basic
Taking the Basic route is easy because Apple is given control of campaign settings. This option lets you pay per install instead of per tap and leaves matching and optimization to Apple. In return your campaign will have the following limitations.
- Your budget is capped at $10,000 per month.
- Placements are limited to only include search result placements.
- No control over keywords and audiences.
Advanced
By using Apple’s Advanced setup, you get full control over
- Bids.
- Keywords.
- Creative.
Marketers with experience in Google Ads or Meta Ads will find familiar tools in Apple Ads. App Store specific metrics and how placements behave however, will present a learning curve.
When considering which ad option to choose for your campaign think about control, scalability, and keep in mind that using a basic campaign will likely lead to 15-25% higher CPIs than Advanced campaigns.
Understanding Ad Placements
Know how each placement works before adding it to your plan.
- Search Results: Have high intent which leads to high conversions because they are triggered by search queries.
- Search Tab: Capture the interest of users before they know what they’re looking for.
- Today Tab: The home page of the App Store offers premium visibility with high-impact creative but is costly and has high standards.
- Product Pages: Target competitor audiences by having your ad appear in the “You Might Also Like” section when a user clicks an app.
Test each placement separately to identify which delivers the best performance. Avoid splitting budgets evenly without performance data.
Campaign Types for High Performance
ocus on user intent with these 4 campaign types to improve results.
- Brand: Target your app name, company name, and misspellings to protect your brand.
- Category: Use non-branded terms associated with your app. There is opportunity to drive high volumes but it’s also very competitive so monitor performance closely.
- Competitor: Target your competition directly by targeting their brand terms. Paired with Custom Product Pages that highlight your advantage over competitors to increase conversions.
- Discovery: Use broad-match and Search Match to identify relevant keywords Apple sees as aligned with your app.
Custom Product Pages
Custom Product Pages let you tailor creative to specific search queries. Create up to 35 pages per app to show users parts of your app that align with their search and stand out from competitors with personalized visuals.
According to AppTweak’s 2025 Report:
“Data from AppTweak’s ASO Trends & Benchmarks report shows that custom product pages can make a big difference when used as ad variants in Apple Search Ads:
- Games saw an 8% increase in conversion rates
- Apps experienced a 6.6% increase in conversion rates”
How Apple Ads Bidding & Scaling Work
Apple Ads uses a cost-per-tap model that charges for bids just above the next highest bid (usually by a cent).
Monitor Impression Share to gauge visibility. Apple shows impression share as a range in reports to let advertisers know about in-platform visibility. Raise bids or budgets if impression volume is low but avoid drastic bid changes. Small, incremental adjustments create cleaner data.
Audience Targeting
Don’t rely on targeting demographics. With 78% of searches coming from devices with Personalized Ads off focus on:
- Keywords.
- Custom Product Pages.
- Creative.
Target regions individually to reflect behavioural differences.
Why Reporting Measurements with Apple Ads Gives More Data
Apple retains visibility through first-party data. Other platforms can lose visibility of their data under iOS privacy rules, Apple does not.
Apple added attribution to installs from ad impressions if the install occurs in 24 hours of the impression. This type of attribution model lets advertisers view conversions that would’ve gone unseen.
Don’t only focus on install metrics. Track these post-install metrics too:
- ROAS
- Day-7 retention
- Revenue per user
- Trial-to-paid conversions
Apple Ads Signals a Larger Shift
Apple Search Ads becoming Apple Ads hints at a broader Paid Media ecosystem. Expect:
- Streaming ads.
- Remarketing.
- Deeper integration.
Gain experience now. Brands that adopt Apple Ads now gain a first-mover advantage as Apple grows its advertising ecosystem.
Looking to stay ahead of Apple’s shifting advertising ecosystem?
