Cheetah Mobile campaign configuration

At a glance: Cheetah Mobile, an AppsFlyer ad network integrated partner, aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform. In addition to click-based mobile attribution, Cheetah Mobile also offers cost and view-through attribution, which you can record with AppsFlyer. 

Setting up Cheetah Mobile

Prerequisite: Before setting up the integration, make sure you contact the partner and open an account with them.

To activate or edit the integration:

  1. To activate: In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Collaborate Partner Marketplace.
    To edit: In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Collaborate Active Integrations.
  2. Search for the partner and select it.
  3. Click Set up integration. You’re directed to the integration setup page.
  4. In the Integration tab, select the app for the integration and turn Activate partner on.
    Note: The toggle must be on (activated) for as long as you work with the partner.
  5. Complete the configuration using the relevant tabs, as described below.

The Cheetah Mobile configuration window includes 4 active tabs: Integration, Attribution link, Cost and Permissions. Click on the items below to read about the tabs setup.

For a detailed description of the Partner Configuration Window Header, click here.

 Tip

  • The General Settings step in the Integration tab is mandatory for all partners
  • All the rest of the steps are either descriptive or optional

Integration tab

Activate partners

On the first visit here, you must toggle ON the Activate Partner button to enable setup of the integration tab's parameters. The toggle MUST be ON for as long as you work with the partner.
For more details about partner activation, click here.

 Note

As an ALL-Installs network, Cheetah Mobile prefers to receive postbacks for all new installs of your app from ANY source, including organic. It is recommended to select Events attributed to any partner to send all install postbacks to Cheetah Mobile.

General settings

Enable View-Through attribution

Toggle this to ON if you want to attribute view-through installs from Cheetah Mobile. The view-through lookback slider is available on the attribution link tab (described below).

Default postbacks

Send automatic postbacks to Cheetah Mobile following user installs and re-engagements. Use this section to define the source of the users that allow sending these postbacks.

Select Only events attributed to this partner for events coming only from users attributed to Cheetah Mobile.
Select Events attributed to any partner or organic to have your entire user base available to be reported to Cheetah Mobile.

In-app events settings

In this section you can map your AppsFlyer events with Cheetah Mobile via postbacks.

  1. Toggle In-App Event Postbacks to ON.
  2. Select the Sending Option for all SDK-defined events.
    - Only events attributed to this partner for events coming only from users attributed to this partner
    - Events attributed to any partner or organic to have your entire user base available to be reported to the partner
  3. Click Add Event to add an SDK Event to the list.
  4. Complete the following parameters:
Parameter Name Description
SDK Event Name The name of the event, as received by AppsFlyer either from the SDK integrated in your app, or from server-to-server events.
Tip - If you don't see the event you want in the list, make sure to activate the event on a device with a non-organic installation and recheck.
Partner Event Identifier The unique name or ID of each event as defined on Cheetah Mobile's side.
Obtain the corresponding Event ID from Cheetah Mobile and set in the text field.
Send Revenue When unchecked - sends all the parameters of the rich in-app event to the partner, except for the revenue parameter, which is contained in the af_revenue parameter.
When checked - sends all the parameters including the revenue value (if it exists in the event).

Attribution link tab

In this tab, you can create the attribution links you want to send to Cheetah Mobile for attributing Cheetah Mobile campaigns, ad sets, or single ads. Note that AppsFlyer DOES NOT save your generated partner's attribution links.

This tab is divided into different sections:

Attribution link parameters

In this section, select which parameters you want to add to the attribution link.

Adding parameters to the attribution link here enables you to later perform thorough drill-down analyses. Parameters that are already defined on the attribution link can be edited by adding them and their new values here.

  • Campaign - add it to compare different campaigns running with Cheetah Mobile.
    Attribution link parameter: c
  • Adset - set ad set names to compare different ad sets within specific Cheetah Mobile campaigns.
    Attribution link parameter: af_adset
  • Ad Name - set ad set names to compare different creatives within specific ad sets within specific campaigns Cheetah Mobile.
    Attribution link parameter: af_ad
  • Site ID and Sub Site ID - set Site ID parameter to attribute installs to specific publishers. If many publishers exist, we advise on limiting the number of used site IDs and using the sub site ID parameter, to avoid exceeding the site ID limitations.
    Attribution link parameters: af_siteid and af_sub_siteid
  • Subscriber Parameters - use any of the 5 subscriber parameters to insert useful values. Note that these parameters get parsed and appear in the raw data report, which makes them very handy for performing data aggregation or filtering.
    Attribution link parameters: af_sub1, af_sub2, af_sub3, af_sub4, af_sub5

Add any other parameter to the attribution link simply by typing it in a new parameter box. For more information about the AppsFlyer Attribution Link Structure and Parameters.

Click-through attribution

This slider allows you to set the maximum time from click to install. Only installs (first launches) that take place within the lookback window may be attributed to Cheetah Mobile.

Attribution link parameter: af_click_lookback

More details about the click lookback window here.

Click attribution link

This is the attribution link that contains all the setup information you have set for it. Send it to Cheetah Mobile to be activated when leads click on a corresponding ad.

View-through attribution lookback window

This slider allows you to set the maximum time from impression to install. Only installs (first launches) that take place within this lookback window, following an ad impression, are attributed to Cheetah Mobile, providing there was no other relevant ad click.

You can customize this value to 1-23 hours or 1-7 days.

Attribution link parameter: af_viewthrough_lookback

More details about the view-through attribution here.

Impressions attribution link

The impression attribution link contains similar attribution data to the click recording link (besides the different lookback window). Send it to Cheetah Mobile to be activated when a corresponding ad is watched, usually for 1 second or more.

Cost tab

Cheetah Mobile automatically sends encrypted CPI cost data o the attribution link for all installs.

Ad revenue tab

Ad Revenue data is not supported by this partner.

Permissions tab

In this tab, you can select the permissions to grant Cheetah Mobile, whether the partner acts as an ad network, agency, or both. Note that even if attribution is disabled for Cheetah Mobile, the permissions tab is active and you can grant control to Cheetah Mobile.

Ad network permissions

Use these toggles to give the ad network permissions to handle its own configuration for your app:

  • Allow to configure integration - permit the partner to setup the integration tab (except in-app event postbacks)
  • Allow to configure in-app event postbacks - permit the partner to setup in-app event postbacks mapping to itself on the integration tab
  • Allow access to your retention report - only to the partner's own retention data
  • Allow access to your aggregate loyal user data - only to the partner's own loyal user data
  • Allow access to your aggregate in-app events data - only to the partner's own in-app events data
  • Allow access to your aggregate revenue data - only to the revenue data attributed to the partner
  • Allow access to your Protect360 dashboard - only to the partner's own Protect360 data, and providing the feature is enabled for the advertiser

Learn more about granting ad network permissions.

Agency permissions

Use these toggles to give the agency permissions to handle its own configuration for your app:

  • Main toggle - Set to On to reveal the agency permissions options
  • Allow to configure in-app event postbacks - permit the agency to setup in-app event postbacks mapping to itself on the integration tab
  • Allow access to aggregate organic data
  • Allow access to your retention report - only to the agency's own retention data

Learn more about granting agency permissions.