Create an App campaign for installs

App campaigns allow you to promote your app across Google properties such as Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, Gmail, and within other apps and mobile websites on the Display Network. This article covers how to create App campaigns to optimize for installs in your Google Ads account. This process includes creating an ad group consisting of ads automatically generated from your ad assets.

Before you begin

App Campaigns for Installs (ACi) will serve ads until the user completes the download action that the campaign is optimizing for.

During ACi campaign construction for Android apps, a Google Play download event will be created automatically in case there’s no download event for the selected app in your Google Ads account or related manager account. The download event will be created as soon as you begin campaign construction and will remain even if you abandon construction.

To learn about how these campaigns work, read About App campaigns and review the best practices for finding the right mobile app users.

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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.

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Campaigns.
4. Click the plus button , then select New campaign.
5. For your campaign goal, select App promotion.
6. For your “Campaign subtype,” pick App installs.
7. Select your mobile app's platform.
8. In the search field, enter your app name, package name, or publisher, and then select your app from the list that appears. If there are no matches, enter the Google Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS) URL directly into the field. Learn more about App campaign status.
9. Add a name for your campaign. To help find the campaign easily in the future, give the campaign a name that indicates that this is an App campaign. It’s also recommended that you include the operating system (Android or iOS) in the campaign name.
10. Click Continue.
11. On the “Campaign settings” page, select locations to target, and select “Location options” to specify how you want to target and exclude users.
12. If needed, update language settings. Keep in mind that Google Ads doesn't translate your ads, so you should only target languages that match your ads.
13. Adjust more settings, like start and end dates for your campaign. Additionally, you can attach a data feed. Learn more About using feeds in App campaigns.
14. Click Next.
15. Under “Budget” on the “Budget and bidding” page, set your average daily budget.
16. Under “Bidding,” choose your focus and target users.
17. Then, select your install event and in-app event (if applicable) from your conversion settings.
    • Note: A download conversion action lets you track app installs after people have interacted with your ad. For Android apps, download conversion actions may be automatically created and tracked through Google Play.
18. You have the option to set your target bid. The following bid options may show based on your pre-selected campaign settings:
    • Target cost per install
    • Target cost per action
    • Target return on ad spend
      • Note: If you prefer to create a Maximize Conversions campaign, you don't need to set a target bid. Learn more about How to Choose a bid strategy for your App campaign.
19. Click Next.
20. On the “Ad groups” page, under “Ad Assets,” add at least two headline ideas and one description idea (it’s recommended to add up to 5 of each). You can also view reports on asset performance to help optimize asset usage.
21. You have the option to add up to 20 of each of the below assets:
    • Images
    • Videos
    • HTML5
      • Note: Under “Advanced options” you have the choice to add a deep link to send people to a specific page in your app after they install (Android only). Learn more about Asset types for App campaigns.
22. Click Next.
23. Review your campaign details and enter your ad group name.
24. Click Publish campaign.
    • Note: Depending on where your ad is shown, your App campaign assets may be altered for performance and user experience purposes. For example, text may be truncated and images or videos may be cropped to fit users' screens.

Tips:

• Use square and vertical video to engage mobile customers
• If you've created your Google Ads campaign using your Google Play developer account, you should be able to see all of your app campaign's statistics in your developer console. Learn more about links to your Play Developer Console.

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Related links

• Measure your app's acquisition and retention
• Product Linking: Link Google Play and Google Ads accounts
• About App campaigns
• About asset reporting for App campaigns