About app assets

Note: App assets can be used only for Search ads.

App assets allow you to link to your mobile or tablet app from your text ads. People click either on your ad headline to go to your site, or on the link to your app. App assets are a great way to provide access to your website and your app from a single ad.

This article explains how app assets work, and some of the reasons why they're helpful.

Before you begin

Before you set up an app asset, confirm you have the following:

  • A mobile app that's live within Google Play or the Apple App Store
  • The Package Name (Android) or App ID (iOS) for your mobile app
  • The URL of the page within the app store where users can learn more about the app or click to install the app

If you have all of the items above, you can add an app asset to the ads in your account, campaign, or ad group.

Note: If your primary goal is to drive app downloads, app promotion ads (which link to apps exclusively) might be a better option.

How it works

App assets showcase your mobile or tablet app by showing a link to your app below your ad. Clicking this link leads you to your app’s description in the app store (Google Play or the Apple App Store). Clicking on your ad’s headline will still lead to your website.

Key benefits of app assets

  • Flexibility: You can add app assets to accounts, campaigns, and ad groups.
  • Detailed reporting: Find out how many clicks you receive on each part of your ad when an app asset appeared, such as clicks to your ad's headline compared to clicks on the app asset. Break these statistics down by campaign, ad group, or ad.
  • “Smart” detection of app store and device: If you create an asset for each app store, we'll show the store link that corresponds to the customer's device. As a result, users on an iOS device will view your Apple App Store link. We'll also show the app asset link that corresponds to a customer's device type, so if your app only runs on tablets, we won't display that app asset link to a customer using a mobile phone.
  • In-place editing: Edit your app asset without resetting its performance statistics.

Keep in mind that only one app asset can be displayed per text ad (unlike sitelinks, with which you can add multiple links to different pages of your site). You can still create multiple app assets, one for each app or each app store.

Account levels

You can add app assets at the account, campaign, ad group, or ad level. If you create app assets at different levels (account, campaign, or ad group), the most specific will be used. So when you add an app asset to an ad group, that asset shows instead of your campaign-level or account-level app assets. Likewise, campaign-level assets override account-level assets.

What app assets cost

App assets are free to add, and you're only charged for clicks. Clicks on an app asset of an ad cost the same as clicks on the headline of that ad. In other words, you'll be charged the same amount no matter which link is clicked on the same ad.

Instructions

Note: The instructions below are part of the new design for the Google Ads user experience. To use the previous design, click the "Appearance" icon, and select Use previous design. If you're using the previous version of Google Ads, review the Quick reference map or use the Search bar in the top navigation panel of Google Ads to find the page you’re searching for.

Create app assets

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon Campaigns Icon.
  2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
  3. Click Assets.
  4. You'll now find a table with all of your assets. Click the plus button .
  5. Select App from the dropdown menu.
  6. Choose whether you’d like your app asset to run on the "Account", "Campaign", or "Ad group" level from the dropdown menu.
  7. Select “Create new” app asset or “Use existing” app assets.
  8. Enter the name of your app in the search field. You can choose between the “Android” and “IOS” version of this app.
  9. Enter the “Link text” you’d like to appear as your call-to-action.
  10. Add any custom tracking parameters, or set start and end dates for your app asset.
  11. Click Save.

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