At a glance: To evaluate performance during the retargeting campaign's re-engagement window, in-app events and sessions are double-attributed to the user acquisition (UA) and retargeting media sources.
Overview
In the AppsFlyer attribution model, events occurring as a result of user engagement with a retargeting campaign are attributed to both the media source motivating the install and the media source motivating the re-engagement or the re-attribution.
In the preceding figure, the UA event is attributed to the green_network. One event is generated. In contrast, after the user engages with a retargeting ad served by blue_network two events are generated. The events credit:
- blue_network as the primary source motivating the re-engagement.
- green_network as the secondary source that motivated the original install.
To clarify further, the table that follows contains a scenario of how in-app events are attributed before, during, and after a re-engagement window. The notation in the table refers to the raw data fields used to identify double-attributed events:
- is_primary_attribution: If true, the media source is the primary media source
- context: use one of the following fields:
- [Best practice] conversion_type: install or re-engagement.
- is_retargeting: if true, the data relates to the retargeting campaign.
Attribution relative to the re-engagement window
| Media source | Before re-engagement | During re-engagement | After re-engagement |
|---|---|---|---|
| User acquisition |
Primary is_primary_attribution: True conversion_type: install (is_retargeting: False) |
Secondary is_primary_attribution: False conversion_type: re-engagement (is_retargeting: False) |
Primary is_primary_attribution: True conversion_type: install (is_retargeting: False) |
| Retargeting | N/A |
Primary is_primary_attribution: True conversion_type: re-engagement (is_retargeting: True)
|
N/A |
Support for dashboard view types
Some dashboards and cohort reports contain multiple view options being unified, user acquisition, and retargeting. These view types employ similar logic to that employed in raw data.
Data filtering by view type using the conversion_type field
| View type | conversion_type | is_primary | Attribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| User acquisition | install | True or False | UA events attributed to the UA media source |
| re-engagement | False | Retargeting events attributed to the UA media source. | |
| Retargeting | re-engagement or re-attribution | True | Retargeting events attributed to the retargeting media source |
| Unified | install or re-engagement | True | All events attributed to the last touch media source |
How do I identify double-attributed retargeting events in user acquisition in-app reports?
In UA in-app event reports events recorded as a result of double attribution are identified as follows:
- The is_primary_attribution field identifies primary and secondary media sources; when false, it means that the attribution is the result of a retargeting campaign and the UA media source is secondary.
- The is_retargeting field is always false.
The corresponding record in retargeting in-app event reports during the re-engagement window is populated as follows:
- The is_primary_attribution field is always true.
- The is_retargeting field is always true.
- To clarify, there is no record whatsoever if the event does not happen during a re-engagement window.