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PlayStation integration with AppsFlyer

  • Updated

Learn how to integrate your PlayStation app with AppsFlyer and how to measure ads that run on PlayStation.

This article covers two related but distinct integrations.

Integrate your PlayStation app with AppsFlyer

The PlayStation OS for console and CTV (Connected TV) apps runs across all PlayStation devices.

Apps running on PlayStation can integrate with AppsFlyer via S2S (server-to-server) API to receive attribution data and performance measurements about which sources and campaigns drive app open and in-app events. Marketers rely on these insights to measure and optimize marketing activities.

The PlayStation API integration supports:

  • PlayStations.
  • Attribution and event recording for PlayStation apps, which means attribution and recording on a user's PlayStation device.

Example attribution flow

The following is an example flow that highlights the most important steps in a user journey from ad engagement to attribution. It includes the AppsFlyer-recommended cross-platform landing page. Note: While we recommend using the cross-platform landing page, you can also use direct attribution links.

Diagram of the attribution flow from a marketing touchpoint through a cross-platform landing page to installing a PlayStation app
  1. Marketing touchpoints: Customers interact with your brand through online or offline channels. These can include email and newsletters, social media, mobile web, and more.
  2. Game landing page: A game landing page directs customers to your download app page. This step is important for collecting UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) and other URL parameters to attribute customers from the click/install to the original media sources or to your owned media sources.
    The landing page is also useful because it provides links to the various platforms your game supports. For example, you can also have links to your Xbox, Microsoft Store, and Steam page on your landing page.
  3. App page: This is the URL to your PlayStation app page that hosts your app for customers to download.
  4. Game install: The user installs the game, triggering attribution and the recording of in-app events and sessions.

Integration procedures

The following table lists the tasks required to integrate your PlayStation app with AppsFlyer.

Task Actions Who's involved
App setup Marketer
API integration with your app (via S2S)

Integrate the AppsFlyer API into your app with commands to report the following events to AppsFlyer.

  • First opens
  • In-app events
  • Sessions

Note:

  • Report the first app open event before in-app events and sessions.
  • For the device_ids parameter, select the type custom.
  • Send events using the API. Tell your developer which events to send. When you set up the API, verify that you've mapped the events you want to send to AppsFlyer. 
  • The psid device ID type is intended for use as an advertising ID. At the moment, PlayStation does not support advertising ID matching, so there is no need to use this device ID type.
  • We recommend sharing the psn_uid, which is the PlayStation account ID in the customer_user_id field. Make sure to anonymize the value before sharing it.

To report owned media engagements, integrate the impression engagement API.

 App developer
Cross-platform landing page setup

Recommended: A cross-platform landing page running the AppsFlyer Smart Script lets you perform web-to-app attribution. It's recommended when your campaign promotes an app that's also available on other platforms, like Epic and Native PC.

Learn about cross-platform landing pages

Learn how to set up a cross-platform landing page

Note:

For PlayStation, the following parameters are required:

  • platform: playstation
  • app_id: The ID of the app
  • media_source

The following parameters are not required but recommended:

  • campaign
  • ad
  • ad_set
 Marketer (may require developer assistance)  
Link setup

If you don't use a cross-platform landing page, you can create direct attribution links to place behind ads.

Learn how to create direct attribution links

 Marketer
Report setup/view data Learn about data availability in dashboards and reports Marketer/Data engineer 

Measure ads that run on PlayStation

AppsFlyer supports measurement for ads that run on PlayStation consoles and drive installs of your PlayStation app. This flow is separate from the general integration in Integration procedures above, it only applies if PlayStation is also one of your ad sources, and it's available to advertisers who already have an active PlayStation app set up in AppsFlyer.

To run and measure PlayStation ads:

  1. Create an attribution link. Follow the guidelines in CTV, PC, and console platform direct attribution links, and set the platform value to playstation.
  2. Send the link to PlayStation. Ask your PlayStation ads management team to place the attribution link in your ads.
  3. Activate the PlayStation Ads integration in AppsFlyer. Use partner ID playstation_int. For the general activation steps, see Set up an integrated partner.
  4. View the results in AppsFlyer. Performance appears in your standard AppsFlyer dashboards and reports, attributed to the PlayStation media source.

Important

At this stage, you can't share signals, such as conversions, events, or postbacks, back to the PlayStation ads team. Measurement data stays in AppsFlyer and isn't sent back to PlayStation for optimization.

Sample attribution links

The following are sample click and impression attribution links for PlayStation.

Click

https://engagements.appsflyer.com/v1.0/s2s/click/app/playstation/10000000
?af_media_source=playstation_int
&af_campaign_id={campaign_id}
&af_ip={USER_IP}
&af_campaign={campaign_name}

Impression

https://engagements.appsflyer.com/v1.0/s2s/impression/app/playstation/10000000
?af_media_source=playstation_int
&af_campaign_id={campaign_id}
&af_ip={USER_IP}
&af_campaign={campaign_name}
Placeholder Type Meaning
10000000 Path parameter The advertiser's PlayStation app ID in AppsFlyer. Replace with the real app ID, with no platform prefix.
s2s / c2s Path parameter Whether the request is sent server-to-server (s2s) or client-to-server (c2s). Replaces the s2s segment shown in the example URLs above. The PlayStation Ads team decides which one applies.
{campaign_id} Query parameter Campaign ID, populated by PlayStation.
{campaign_name} Query parameter Campaign name, populated by PlayStation.
{USER_IP} Query parameter End-user IP address, populated by PlayStation.

Traits and limitations

Trait Description
Cost data Send cost data via Ad Spend Ingestion, using the upload file by email method.

See also

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