Smart Banners—mobile web-to-app

At a glance: Convert your website visitors into mobile app users with Smart Banners.

Smart Banners

Smart Banners:

Display on your brand's mobile website to increase conversion rates for high-intent users.
Measure the quality of app installs coming from visitors to the mobile website.
Enables accurate web campaign-to-app mobile attribution for ALL media sources, including SRNs.
Smart Banners can attribute using click-through attribution and count impressions:
- Clicks: A user clicks the Smart Banners and proceeds to install.
- Impressions: When the banner loads (user sees the banner), it sends an impression count event to AppsFlyer.

The flow works as follows:

A user clicks on an ad and is directed to the advertiser’s mobile website.
A Smart Banner displays on the advertiser’s mobile website.
The user clicks on the Smart Banner and:
- If the app is not installed, the user is directed to the app store to install the app.
- If the app is installed, and Universal Links, App Links, and/or URI links are configured, the app is directly launched.
The user reaches in-app content, in the context of the promotion.
The user is attributed to the media source that showed the original ad.

Note

Not sure whether Smart Banners is the right solution for you?
Compare Smart Banners with other AppsFlyer web-to-app solutions.

Scope of work

Who's involved

Marketer and website developer.

The website developer only needs to enter a code snippet into the HTML of the website.
For all other setup actions, only the marketer is required.

Prerequisites

An AppsFlyer account with at least one app
OneLink template containing the app/s to be advertised using Smart Banners
This is required by Smart Banners to direct your mobile web visitors to the correct app store pages according to the devices they use.

Time required

Approximately 20 minutes.

Outcome

Website visitors clicking the CTA button will be sent to the correct app store or web page based on their device.
Mobile app users clicking the CTA button can be deep-linked into the app.
Users will be attributed from the click/install to your owned media sources.

Example

Mark is a marketer working for the successful food delivery service "Feed Me".
Mark wants to convert Feed Me's mobile website visitors into app users.

To do this Mark utilizes Smart Banners using his own visuals and texts.

Smart Banners are powered by OneLink. When mobile website visitors click the CTA button, it automatically directs them to the appropriate app store or landing page, where it's easy for them to install the app. When existing mobile users click the CTA button, it launches the app.

AppsFlyer then attributes the click/install to Mark's defined media source and campaign.

Important!

Use either AppsFlyer Smart Banner or iOS Safari smart app banner, but not both. Using both may cause display issues on your mobile website, and result in attribution discrepancies.

Procedures

Complete the following procedures to set up a smart banner that:

Directs users from your mobile site, via a Smart Banner, to the correct app store or app page based on their device.
Attributes the click/install to your owned media source using OneLink.

1. Website setup

To prepare your mobile site to display Smart Banners:

In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Engagement & Deep Linking > Smart Banners
Click Create Website workplace.
Enter a Website workplace name.
Click Create.
The Website workplace opens.
Copy the banner Code snippet.
Send the code snippet to your front-end developer to implement on your website.
This quick task is done only once per website by the front-end developer, who is not involved anymore during the following steps.
[optional] Copy Web key. (This key already exists as part of the code snippet.)
Click Continue.

2. Banner Group setup

Banner Groups contain one or more banners. Here you can:

Select the OneLink template used by the Banner Group, which contains the mobile apps to redirect your website visitors to.
Set a specific deep-linking scheme
Define your targeting rules, scheduling, behavior, and attribution details used by all banners of the Banner Group.
Set which pages activate the Banner Group's banners when visited.

To set up a new Banner Group:

In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Engagement & Deep Linking > Smart Banners
On the left-hand side, click Add Banner Group.
Enter a unique Banner Group name.
The name should reflect a general common theme between the Banners to be defined for the Banner Group (e.g., the advertised app).
Select the OneLink template for the Banner Group.
[optional] Set URI scheme for the Banner Group as a fallback for Universal Links and Android App Links users. This is rarely needed as, by default, the value is taken from the OneLink template. Set this for the Banner Group only if you need a different value than the one in the template.

Set the Attributed sources to be attributed with new installs coming from this Banner Group. Use the following table to pick the best option for the custom link.

Option	When to select	Comments
Use UTM parameters	Select when most non-organic visitors get to the mobile website from sources with UTM parameters.	Media source name (pid) = UTM_Source Campaign (c) = UTM_campaign If the UTM_source or UTM_campaign are missing, the static names are used as a fallback.
Use incoming attribution link parameters	Select when most non-organic visitors get to the mobile website from click ad networks that use AppsFlyer attribution links.	All available parameters from the incoming AppsFlyer attribution link are added to the Smart Banner link. If a parameter exists in both the incoming AppsFlyer attribution link and the Smart Banner, the incoming parameter takes precedence in the final custom link.
Add another attribution parameter	If you want, add additional website-related attribution data. This enables granular analysis of every install.	For example, for eCommerce sites create identical custom links for every product category type, that differ by af_adset values (for example: "af_adset=fruit")
Use default attribution parameters	Select when most mobile website visitors are organic. Select when non-organic visitors don't get to the website from click ad networks or from sources with UTM parameters.	Important: Best practice is to select UTM or incoming attribution link parameters, since the default Smart Banner attribution parameters are anyway used on the custom link as a fallback if the media source, campaign, or channel names are not available.

[Recommended] Set the default attribution parameter Channel name to attribute all installs coming from the Smart Banner to the specified channel. This enables you to aggregate information from multiple media sources under the same channel in the Cohort report, Overview dashboard, Retention report, and more.
[Optional] Set the Dismissal behavior, that is, the minimum time allowed between a user dismissal of one banner in the group, until the same banner may be displayed again to the user. Select from one of the following:
- By time: 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week.
- Next session: meaning the session that takes place in a different tab or window, after the user closes the banner.
- Never: the banner is not shown again.
  Note:
  - If the user clears the browser cache or views the site in private browsing mode the Dismissal Behaviour setting is lost.
  - The dismissal behavior is applied to the banner the user dismisses; other banners in the banner group can still be displayed.
[optional] Set Frequency capping.
Frequency capping determines how many times the banner is shown to a unique user. For example, if frequency capping is set to three, and a user visits the site four times, the user sees the banner on the first 3 visits but not on the fourth and onward. Frequency capping can be disabled. Select a frequency capping value or disable frequency capping.
[Optional] Schedule the Banner Group's activation: start immediately (default) or set a time-limited campaign.
[Optional] Set Locations where the Banner Group is activated for.
1. Select Worldwide to display this Banner Group to all users. If needed, exclude visitors coming from different regions, countries, or states.
2. Select Pick specific location option to display this Banner Group to users from one or more specific locations.
[Optional] Set Show on pages, meaning, on which pages the Banner Group can be displayed to visitors:
- [Default] Show on all pages of the website.
  Note: We recommend defining at least one Banner Group for all pages as a fallback.
- Show on specific pages: Specify the conditions for what the page or URL should or should not contain in order to display banners.
  - You can choose either:
    - Specific page: Specify the host and/or path of the page on which to display the banner. Any queries entered will be disregarded. Example: http://www.example.com/path?query
    - URL: Specify the path and/or query, or the keyword in the path/query of the pages on which to display the banner. Example: http://www.example.com/path?query
  - Up to 5 conditions can be added using and/or.
  - If there is a conflict between conditions, the banner will not display.
Click Create Banner Group.
[Optional] To edit the Banner Group again, hover over Targeting & behavior and click Edit.

Example

Mark is the marketer for a food delivery service called "Feed Me". He decides to create a campaign for the app’s plum sale. Mark decides to use an SMS blast, as well as ad networks and Google for the campaign.

In preparation for the campaign using SMS, Mark:

Adds unique attribution params to use in the campaign link to drive users to the plum sale page on the Feed Me mobile site. The link includes the pid parameter, with the URL to the plum sale page: http://feedme.com/plums_link?pid=sms&c=plums.
Creates a Smart Banner (banner group and banner) with Attributed sources set to Use incoming attribution link parameters, that activates for users visiting pages in the mobile web containing "plums_link".

In preparation for the campaign using an ad network, Mark:

Gives the ad network a unique attribution link to use in the campaign to drive users to the plum sale page on the Feed Me mobile site. The link includes the Redirection URL (af_r) parameter, with the URL to the plum sale page: http://feedme.com/plums_link. No additional parameters needed
Uses the Smart Banner already created for the SMS campaign.

In preparation for the campaign using Google Ads, Mark:

Creates a duplicate of the plum sale page on the Feed Me mobile site: https://www.feedme.com/plums_utm?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=plums.
Creates a duplicate of the Smart Banner (banner group and banner) with Attributed sources set to Use UTM parameters, that activates for users visiting pages in the mobile web containing "plums_utm".

The campaigns start running.

The users:

See the ad for the plum sale and click through to the Feed Me mobile site.
Google Ads clicks arrive to the UTM landing page, while all other clicks arrive to the incoming link landing page. The matching Smart Banner is activated per page.
See the Smart Banner on the mobile site and click it.
Arrive at the Feed Me app, download, and install.
Get directed upon app launch to the plum sale.
Are attributed to the correct media sources that led them to the Feed Me mobile site.

3. Banner setup

To create a banner in a Banner Group:

Click Create Banner to enter the Edit Banners page.
Set the Name of the banner.
Create a Design creative:
1. Click Design creative to set the creative of the banner.
  A window to choose a banner template opens.
2. Hover over a Creative template, and click Create to enter the Build creative setup page.
3. Customize all the elements in the Smart Banner creative. To do so, select elements by name or click on them on the preview image.
  1. Title
  2. Paragraph
  3. Rating stars
  4. Close button
  5. Call to action
  6. App logo
  7. Background
  8. For images, use one of the following file types: jpeg, jpg, png.
    Note: webp format is not supported.
    The recommendations for the images are:
    
    Template type Maximum image file size DPI Image ratio
    
    Standard 300 KB 72 9:4 (horizontal)
    
    Enhanced
    9:4 (horizontal)
    
    Promotional 1:1
    
    Interstitial 9:16 (vertical)
4. Click Review to review the banner creative and test its appearance on different devices.
  Note: Banners may appear slightly different in active campaigns compared to preview images.
5. If changes are needed, click Back to editor..
6. Click Done to go back to the banner setup page.
[Optional] Add custom attribution parameters. For example, ad_adset and af_ad.
Note: The parameters pid, c, and channel cannot be added at the banner level, as they belong to the banner group level.
After finishing and saving the new creative, the banner's status becomes active. Use the Status toggle to switch between Active and Paused statuses.
[Optional] To convert the attribution link from a user acquisition type URL to a retargeting URL, add the custom is_retargeting=true parameter.
Click Save all to save your work or Save all and close to save your work and close the banner setup page.

4. Testing

Once the creative is ready, it's time to put it to the test before setting it live and activating it for your users.

To test a Smart Banner creative:

Prerequisite: Make sure that the Smart Banner code snippet is integrated into your website.

In the Test Creative page, enter the link to your web page where the Smart Banner SDK is integrated (see next tab).
Click Generate.
Copy the generated link and send it to your test device, or scan the QR code with the test device. The link or QR should redirect you to the web page and display a banner with the creative.
Click Edit Creative to return to the creative configuration, or click Done to save the creative.

Banner group display logic

AppsFlyer takes the following into consideration when determining if/what Smart Banner to display:

Are there rules (dismissal behavior, frequency capping, locations, show on pages, etc.) set for the banner groups?
Does the end-user meet the rule conditions and qualify to see a banner?

If the answer to both questions is yes, meaning there are rules, and the user qualifies to see a banner, AppsFlyer chooses a banner to display as explained in the table that follows.

Banner group setup	Which banners display	Example
Single banner group	AppsFlyer evenly splits the display of all active banners in all your banner groups between all eligible users.	Example 1: There is 1 active banner. It displays to all users. Example 2: There are 2 banners. 50% of users see banner 1, and the other 50% see banner 2. Example 3: There are 3 banners, 1/3 of eligible users see each banner. Example 4: There are no active banners. Nothing displays.
Multiple banner groups with identical rules	AppsFlyer evenly splits the display of all active banners in all your banner groups between all eligible users.	There are 2 banner groups (A and B), each with 3 banners (for a total of 6 banners). 1/6 of eligible users see each banner.
Multiple banner groups with multiple rules	AppsFlyer evenly splits the display of all active banners from the banner group with rules that most specifically describes and match the users. If the banner groups are equally specific in different ways, banners from all these banner groups display.	Example 1: There are 2 banner groups, A and B. Banner group A is set to show worldwide, and Banner group B is set to show in Japan. Banner group B is more specific, so only the banners from that group display to users in Japan. Example 2: There are 2 banner groups, A and B. Banner group A is set to show worldwide, and Banner group B is set to show everywhere except Ukraine. Banner group B is more specific, so only the banners from that group display to worldwide users (except users in Ukraine). Example 3: There are 2 banner groups, A and B. Banner group A is set to show in Japan, and Banner group B is set to show in April. Both banner groups are equally specific, but in different ways. Therefore, in Japan, in April, banners from both banner groups display, as neither banner group has priority over the other.

A/B testing banner performance

You can A/B test the performance of individual banners. To do so, add custom attribution parameters to your banner creatives (step 4 of banner setup) and then use those parameters to compare each banner's performance.

Any parameters can be added except pid, c, and channel, as they belong to the banner group level.

Recommended: Set the af_adset parameter with a unique value on each banner creative. Then, use the Aggregated performance report in the AppsFlyer Overview dashboard to easily compare performance, as shown in the image that follows.

Limitations

Limitation	Remarks
Tablets	Smart Banners are designed for mobile devices and their resolutions may not be optimized for tablets with large screens. Browsers on tablets may not be recognized as mobile devices.
Custom parameters	The following special characters are not allowed in custom parameters: ;, *, !, @, #, ?, $, ^, :, &, ~, `, =, +, ’, >, <, / If you define a parameter using one of these special characters, the parameter is not saved.
Banner display split	AppsFlyer evenly splits the display of active banners to users. It’s not possible to select which specific banners to display more or less. For example, if there are 2 banners in a group, they each display to 50% of users. It can't be changed to a 70%-30% split.

AppsFlyer provides a Smart Banner SDK that advertisers integrate into their websites. The purpose of the SDK is to pull all the required data to dynamically display the Smart Banners. The Smart Banners SDK also automatically builds the proper attribution links, so you don't need to build them manually.

Therefore, the Smart Banner SDK should be accessible from all pages displaying your mobile banners.

The Smart Banner SDK authenticates using the unique Web key, which you can get from the Website workplace.

Code snippet

Note

Starting January 1st, 2020 there's a new SDK for Smart Banners.

The new AppsFlyer web SDK lets you use both Smart Banners and People-based Attribution on your website. The SDK snippets below show two examples:

Include this code snippet in the <head> tag of every page displaying your mobile banners.

AppsFlyer web SDK for Smart Banners only

Replace the YOUR_WEB_KEY placeholder in the script with your Web key. The web key is created when you create a new Website workplace.
Paste this code snippet in the head tag on your website. Make sure to paste it near the top of the head tag.

<script>
!function(t,e,n,s,a,c,i,o,p){t.AppsFlyerSdkObject=a,t.AF=t.AF||function(){
(t.AF.q=t.AF.q||[]).push([Date.now()].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments)))},
t.AF.id=t.AF.id||i,t.AF.plugins={},o=e.createElement(n),p=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],o.async=1,
o.src="https://websdk.appsflyer.com?"+(c.length>0?"st="+c.split(",").sort().join(",")+"&":"")+(i.length>0?"af_id="+i:""),
p.parentNode.insertBefore(o,p)}(window,document,"script",0,"AF","banners",{banners: {key: "YOUR_WEB_KEY"}});

AF('banners', 'showBanner');

</script>

AppsFlyer web SDK for Smart Banners and people-based attribution

Replace the YOUR_WEB_KEY placeholder in the script with your Web key. The web key is created when you create a new Website workplace.
Replace the YOUR_PBA_KEY placeholder in the script with your web dev key. The web dev key is created when you create a brand bundle.
Paste this code snippet in the head tag on your website. Make sure to paste it near the top of the head tag.

<script>
!function(t,e,n,s,a,c,i,o,p){t.AppsFlyerSdkObject=a,t.AF=t.AF||function(){
(t.AF.q=t.AF.q||[]).push([Date.now()].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments)))},
t.AF.id=t.AF.id||i,t.AF.plugins={},o=e.createElement(n),p=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],o.async=1,
o.src="https://websdk.appsflyer.com?"+(c.length>0?"st="+c.split(",").sort().join(",")+"&":"")+(i.length>0?"af_id="+i:""),
p.parentNode.insertBefore(o,p)}(window,document,"script",0,"AF", "pba,banners",{pba: {webAppId: "YOUR_PBA_KEY"}, banners: {key: "YOUR_WEB_KEY"}});

AF('banners', 'showBanner');

</script>

        <script>
          !function(e,n,t){!function(e,n,t,r,a){
          var s=(e[n]=e[n]||{})[t]=function(){(s._q=s._q||[]).push(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments))};
          s.webkey=a;
          for(var i=0;i<r.length;i++)
          s[r[i]]=function(n)
          {return function()
          {var e=Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
          return e.unshift(n),(s._q=s._q||[]).push(e),s}}
          (r[i])}(e,"AF","Banner",["showBanner","hideBanner","disableBanners","disableTracking","setAdditionalParams"],t),
          function(e,n,t){var r=e.createElement("script");
          r.type="text/javascript",r.async=!0,r.src=n+(t?"?webkey="+t:"");
          var a=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
          a.parentNode.insertBefore(r,a)}(n,"https://cdn.appsflyer.com/web-sdk/banner/latest/sdk.min.js",t)}(window,document,"YOUR-BANNER-KEY");
          window.AF.Banner.showBanner();
        </script>

Adding the SDK using tag managers

You can use tag managers to add the Smart Banners SDK to your website.

In GTM, create a new tag.
Name the tag, click Tag Configuration, and select Custom HTML.
In the HTML box, paste the SDK snippet. Replace YOUR-BANNER-KEY in the snippet with your actual banner key.
Click Triggering and create a new trigger by clicking on the plus icon at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Name the trigger, click Trigger Configuration, and choose Page View.
If you want the banner to show up on all pages, select All Page Views. If you want the banner to show up on selected pages, select Some Page Views and define the condition to trigger the tag. To learn more about triggers, read GTM's documentation.
Click Save at the top right-hand corner.
Return to the tag configuration screen. Verify that all is set and click Save at the top right-hand corner.
Publish your GTM container.

Step 1: Create a property in Adobe Experience Cloud

Create a property (tag) that hosts the Smart Banners SDK.

Go to Adobe Experience Cloud > Launch.
Under Adobe Experience Cloud Launch, click Go to Launch.
Click New Property.
Name your property.
Under Platform, select Web.
Enter your website domain.
Click Save.

Step 2: Add Smart Banners SDK to the Adobe Launch property

Add the Smart Banners SDK to the tag.

On My web property page, select the Rules tab.
Name the rule. Recommended to use Load Smart Banners.
In the IF section, under EVENTS, click +Add.
- Under Event Type, select Core - DOM Ready.
- Click Keep Changes.
In the THEN section, under Actions, click +Add.
- Under Action Type > Custom Code.
- Select JavaScript > Open Editor and paste the Smart Banners SDK snippet without the <script> tags.
- Click Keep Changes to close the code editor.
Click Save.

Step 3: Add the Adobe Launch tag to your website

Add the Adobe Launch tag to your website. The tag loads the Smart Banners web SDK.

On the My web property page, select the Environments tab.
Find the row with the environment you want to publish (development or production).
- Under the INSTALL header, click the box icon on the relevant row; this is usually a production environment.
- See the section about publishing the Adobe Launch environment.
In the Web Install Instructions dialog box:
- Copy the script code snippet.
- Close the dialog box.
Paste the code snippet into the <head> tag of your website.

Step 4: Publish the Adobe Launch environment

Publish the environment to activate the Adobe Launch tag.

On the My web property page, go to the Publishing tab.
Under the Development section, click Add New Library.
1. Name the library and choose an environment.
2. Under RESOURCE CHANGES, click Add a Resource.
3. Click Rules > Load Smart Banners > Latest > Select & Create a New Revision.
4. Click Save.
Under the Development section:
1. Next to the newly created library, click the Action menu (3 dots) and select Build for Development.
2. Click the action menu again and select Submit for Approval.
Under the Submitted section:
1. Click the action menu and select Build for Staging.
2. Click the action menu again and select Approve for Publishing.
Under the Approved section click the action menu and select Build & Publish to Production.
The process is now complete.

Now, when your website loads on mobile, the banner's active creative will be displayed. To only display the banner on certain pages or according to user actions, see Adobe Launch rules.

SDK functions

Showbanner

Purpose:

Start showing the Smart Banner according to the banner key provided in the snippet.

Parameters (optional):

bannerContainerQuery
If passed, the SDK tries to locate an element in the page with this query and treats it as the entry point for the banner placement. Otherwise, document.body is used.
additionalParams
If passed, these parameters are added as query parameters to the banner URL.

Example:

AF('banners', 'showBanner', { bannerContainerQuery: "#container-id",
additionalParams: { p1: "v1", p2: "v2"...}});

showBanner({ bannerContainerQuery: "#container-id", 
additionalParams: { p1: "v1", p2: "v2"...}});

hideBanner

Purpose

Programmatically remove any displayed banner from the page (e.g. after displaying for X seconds).

AF('banners', 'hideBanner')

disableBanners - deprecated

Purpose

This function is only available in the old Smart Banners SDK and is going to be deprecated.

Disable the web SDK from displaying banners and communicating with AppsFlyer servers.

disableTracking - deprecated

Purpose

This function is only available in the old Smart Banners SDK and is going to be deprecated.

Disable the web SDK and clear traces of collected info from the browser (i.e. local-storage, cookies, etc.).

setAdditionalParams - deprecated

Purpose

This function is only available in the old Smart Banners SDK and is going to be deprecated.

set additionalParams to the OneLink before calling showBanner. The parameters are appended on the OneLink URL behind the banner.

Parameters

Params
Map of key/value parameters that can override any pre-existing attribution link parameters (besides the pid value).

Usage example

You want to differentiate between landing pages using specific parameters. To do so, you can append additional parameters to the OneLink behind the banner. When a user installs your app after clicking the banner, the parameters on the OneLink appear in the raw data for you to analyze. The code example below makes use of the af_sub1 parameter.

// call this method before calling showBanner()
setAdditionalParameters('af_sub': 'custom_paramter_value')

The format of the final OneLink is this: subdomain.onelink.me/onelink-id?pid=af_banner&c=campaign&af_sub1=custom_paramter_value.

The subdomain and OneLink ID are taken from the OneLink template.

For example: ab12.onelink.me/xyz1?pid=af_banner&c=summer_campaign&af_sub1=uk_landing_page.

You can use any valid parameter. For more information on attribution link parameters, see here. Make sure not to override the pid and c parameters, because these already exist on the attribution link behind the banner.

getAdditionalParams- deprecated

Purpose

This function is only available in the old Smart Banners SDK and is going to be deprecated.

Get the current additionalParams object.

Template type	Maximum image file size	DPI	Image ratio
Standard	300 KB	72	9:4 (horizontal)
Enhanced			9:4 (horizontal)
Promotional			1:1
Interstitial			9:16 (vertical)

Smart Banners

Note

Scope of work

Example

Important!

Procedures

1. Website setup

2. Banner Group setup

Example

3. Banner setup

4. Testing

Banner group display logic

A/B testing banner performance

Limitations

Code snippet

Note

AppsFlyer web SDK for Smart Banners only

AppsFlyer web SDK for Smart Banners and people-based attribution

Adding the SDK using tag managers

Step 1: Create a property in Adobe Experience Cloud

Step 2: Add Smart Banners SDK to the Adobe Launch property

Step 3: Add the Adobe Launch tag to your website

Step 4: Publish the Adobe Launch environment

SDK functions

Showbanner

Purpose:

Parameters (optional):

Example:

hideBanner

Purpose

disableBanners - deprecated

Purpose

disableTracking - deprecated

Purpose

setAdditionalParams - deprecated

Purpose

Parameters

Usage example

getAdditionalParams- deprecated

Purpose

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