How SKAdNetwork Works: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

If you have been living in the mobile marketing or app development world recently, it is likely you have heard the term SKAdNetwork being discussed a lot; but what does SKAdNetwork do, and why is there so much buzz around it? In simplest terms, SKAdNetwork is a new way Apple is trying to help advertisers understand how effective their advertising is, without tracking a person’s activity too closely.

With the changes to privacy and data sharing over the last year, tools like SKAdNetwork are more important than ever. Apptrove is an industry-leading MMP (mobile measurement partner) that provides full support of SKAdNetwork functions so that marketers continue to measure results and grow apps efficiently.

In this blog, we are going to attempt to make sense of how SKAdNetwork functions, the rationale for its creation, and how it impacts SKAdNetwork user acquisition campaigns, and we will do it in a manner that can be understood by a 15-year-old.

What Is SKAdNetwork?

SKAdNetwork is a framework and API by Apple meant to help companies determine whether their app advertisements resulted in actual installs. It will do this without sharing any user-performed characteristic or personal information.

Prior to SKAdNetwork, advertisers could track much more information around the users; with SKAdNetwork, advertisers still receive aggregated completeness and some information at a limited level. Apple now puts limits on what advertisers can track to protect user privacy, so while SKAdNetwork allows for advertisers to collect some extent of data, users will continue to be anonymous.

Why Apple Introduced SKAdNetwork

More users are becoming privacy-conscious. Privacy will only become a more important concern for users. Apple responded to these concerns by changing the way app tracking works on the iPhone. Now, more than 75% of iOS users choose not to share their data with apps.

This is exactly the reason SKAdNetwork was created – to still let advertisers measure their campaigns, but without violating user privacy.

How Does SKAdNetwork Work?

So, how does SKAdNetwork work? Let’s walk through the entire process.

Step 1: User Clicks an Advertisement

A person sees an advertisement for a mobile app, maybe while playing a game on their mobile device or scrolling through social media. The user taps “Install,” which takes him or her to the App Store screen, and becomes the app’s potential user.

Step 2: User Installs the App

If the user then installs the app, SKAdNetwork logs this activity. However, the best part of this is that the user’s identity remains completely private. Apple does not allow the advertiser to know exactly who the user is.

Step 3: Apple Sends a Notification

After the app is installed and used, SKAdNetwork sends a notification to the advertiser… or report. The report tells the advertiser that a user has installed the app, but doesn’t tell the advertiser who that user is or what device they used.

There is also a delay, usually between 24 to 72 hours, for the report to be sent so SKAdNetwork does a great job keeping the user’s identity anonymous.

Step 4: Campaign Data Collection

Even though SKAdNetwork does not provide personally identifiable information, it provides a lot of good campaign details such as the ad network the user came from and which ad group provided the best performance. This allows marketers to improve their ads.

Why SKAdNetwork Matters for Marketers

SKAdNetwork is still valuable at this partial capacity. SKAdNetwork informs marketers whether their ads are driving users. They can evaluate the performance of different ads and measure which activities lead to more installs.

For folks curious as to how SKAdNetwork function on real-world campaigns, it provides marginally sufficient data to measure success that does not compromise privacy.

Final Thoughts

So, what is SKAdNetwork in simple terms? It is Apple’s privacy-compliant way to inform you whether your ads are doing what you want them to do, and although not as granular as traditional tracking methods, it gives marketers and advertisers the information they need to see what is happening (just without any user data).

If you are running iOS ads, you can’t not use SKAdNetwork. SKAdNetwork is the standard now, and it is better to know how SKAdNetwork works so you can optimise your mobile marketing moving forward compared to when it was all about user tracking.

By the way, working with app marketing agencies that have smart tools like Apptrove will enable your app to run solid SKAdNetwork user acquisition campaigns compliantly and still get you results. If you are looking to grow your app the right way, now is the time to bring SKAdNetwork into the game and get it to work for you.

Author Profile

Adam Regan

Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com