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GMP App Attribution Integration (DV360)

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Gray Goldstein
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  • Marketers
  • Agencies

At a glance: Google Marketing Platform (GMP) is an AppsFlyer self-reporting network (SRN) partner combining advertising and analytics.

  • [Updated August 10, 2021] If you want to use the API, you must contact your GMP account manager.
  • The AppsFlyer internal name for this integration is dv360_int.

Google Marketing Platform App Attribution Integration (DV360)

Google Marketing Platform (GMP) brings together advertising and analytics to help you make quality customer connections, surface deeper insights, and drive better marketing results. 

This article relates to the new GMP App Attribution Integration API, which leverages a link ID for conversion measurement. This integration is designed to replace the Legacy Integration for Third-Party App Tracking.

In the context of AppsFlyer, the following GMP solutions are relevant: 

  • Campaign Manager 360 (CM360): Ad management and measurement system for advertisers and agencies enabling mobile marketers to plan, execute, and measure their display campaigns across websites and mobile.
  • Display & Video 360 (DV360): Demand-side-platform (DSP) providing trading desks, agencies, and advertisers with transparency and performance in global display media buying across ad exchanges.

Integration principles

Integration with GMP is based on GMP Floodlight Activities, which are tags associated with given conversion events. You can map in-app events like subscriptions and purchases to Floodlights. This enables conversion measurement and reporting between AppsFlyer and GMP.

Comparing the legacy and new integrations

Compared to the legacy integration, Link ID integration is simpler to set up and has superior accuracy and functionality.

Differences between the integrations are listed in the table.

Feature

Third-party app tracking integration

(Legacy doubleclick_int) 

Link ID—App Attribution Integration

(New dv360_int (this article))
Install conversion Yes Yes
Retargeting conversion Yes No
Ad network permissions (allow GMP to get data from your AppsFlyer dashboard)  Yes No
GMP API feature support 

Advertisers considering migrating from the legacy API to Link ID API

[Updated June 2021] If you use the legacy API consider that you can move to the Link ID API at your convenience. GMP hasn't announced a sunset date for the legacy API. However, expect it to be sunset towards the end of 2021.

GMP solution

GMP solution Description Action required to integration
DV360  Integrate DV360 with AppsFlyer  Complete advertiser GMP integration
CM360 & DV360 Buy DV360 traffic via CM360

Complete advertiser GMP integration
CM360 & non-DV360 third-party media source (1)

Buy traffic from third-party media sources and measure mobile app conversions originating from this traffic in CM360.

 Measure 3rd party traffic using CM360
GMP solutions and integration

Data sharing between AppsFlyer and GMP

AppsFlyer sends postbacks to GMP relating to conversions and in-app events. In-app events are mapped to Floodlights used by GMP to optimize and update performance reports. You perform the mapping as part of the integration settings.

Consider the following mapping table in the context of your app in-app events and GMP Floodlights. 

AppsFlyer in-app event to Floodlight mapping
AppsFlyer in-app event Floodlight app event type 
af_purchase in_app_purchase
af_app_opened session_start
af_search view_search_results
af_content_view view_item
af_list_view view_item_list
af_add_to_cart add_to_cart
af_travel_booking ecommerce_purchase
Any in-app event 
  • custom_[n] where n=1-9
  • Example: custom_1, custom_2, and so on. 
  • In GMP you map the custom_[n] to a Floodlight. 

Example scenario:

  • In an app you have game achieved levels being level_a, level_b, level_c.
  • In AppsFlyer map level_a to custom_1, level_b to custom_2, and so on. 
  • In GMP, map custom_1 to level_a, custom_2 to level_b, and so on. 

Mapping more than 9 custom events 

If you have additional events, not mapped to custom_[n], map them to the event CUSTOM (all caps). In GMP this event displays as a single event and isn't broken down. 

Data provided to AppsFlyer by GMP

When GMP claims a conversion, they provide us with the media source parameters listed in the table. These parameters populate analytics and raw data reports. The table that follows contains the mapping between GMP and AppsFlyer parameters.

GMP  AppsFlyer
interaction type attributed_touch_type
timestamp attributed_touch_time
line_item_id campaign_id
line_item_name campaign_name
creative_id ad_id
product_type af_channel
external_customer_id network_account_id
site_id af_siteid
GMP-AppsFlyer media source mapping

Integration procedures

You can work with GMP directly, via an agency, or both. Complete the sections as follows:

Advertiser GMP integration

Integration tab sections
Step Section Description

1

Activate partner

Prerequisites:

Get the GMP link ID.

To activate the GMP App Attribution integration: 

  1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > Integrated Partners.
  2. Select Google Marketing Platform - Display & Video 360 (DV360).
    AppsFlyer navigates to the dv360_int page. 

    dv360_int.png

  3. Verify that dv360_int displays in the URL. If this is not the case, you have selected the wrong integrated partner. 
  4. In the Integration tab, turn on Activate partner.
    The Link ID field displays.

    mceclip0.png

  5. In the Link ID field, paste the link ID mentioned in the prerequisites. 
  6. [Optional] Changes to default settings:
    1. Install click-through lookback window. GMP default is 30 days. To minimize discrepancies [best practice], align with the GMP default.
    2. Install view-through lookback window. GMP default is 7 days. To minimize discrepancies, [best practice], align with the GMP default. 
  7. Click Save integration.
2

Map in-app events to Floodlights

To map Floodlights to AppsFlyer in-app events:

  1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > Integrated Partners.
  2. Select App Attribution Integration.
  3. Turn on In-app events postback.
  4. Click Add event to add an app event to the list.
  5. Complete the parameters required. 
  6. Click Save integration. 
Parameter name Description
SDK event name

The name of the event, as received by AppsFlyer from either the SDK integrated in your app, or from server-to-server events.
Partner event identifier

The GMP Floodlight. Suggested default mapping configurations are listed in the table in the previous section.
Sending option

Select the sending option for the event:

  • Only events attributed to GMP for events coming only from users attributed to GMP. 
  • Events attributed to any partner or organic to have your entire user base available to be reported to GMP.

Remarks: 

  • Event names are case-sensitive. To avoid discrepancies, make sure you use the correct event name for all media sources and app versions.

Agency integration

Agencies are able to run campaigns with GMP on your behalf.

Procedure performed by  Procedure
Advertiser
  1. Verify that you have completed advertiser GMP integration.
  2. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > Integrated Partners.
  3. Select an agency.
  4. Go to the Permissions tab, and turn on Agency permissions. 
  5. [Optional] In the Integration tab turn on In-app event postback. This enables the agency to turn on or off postbacks on their end.
Agency
  1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > Integrated Partners.
  2. Select App Attribution Integration.
  3. Go to the Integration tab.
    The integration status with GMP displays.

    mceclip2.png

  4. Verify that Activate Partner is On. If this is not the case, the advertiser must complete Advertiser GMP integration. 
  5. Verify that the remaining settings, like lookback windows and in-app event mapping, are correct. If necessary, ask the advertiser to make changes. 
  6. Enter one or more DBM Advertiser IDs. The ID is available in your GMP dashboard.
  7. Click Save.
Agency setup 

Subsidiary procedures

Get the link ID

To get the link ID, for both CM360 and DV360, refer to Google documentation.

Create a new Floodlight

To create a new Floodlight:

  1. Go to Advertiser > Resources > Floodlight > Floodlight Activities > New Floodlight Activity. 
  2. Select Mobile App.
  3. Select the platform and app.
  4. Select Third-party app analytics.
  5. Select AppsFlyer.
  6. Click Create.
    One of the following occurs:
    1. If the app and AppsFlyer were previously created in the advertiser, the existing link displays without an option to save.
    2. If the app and AppsFlyer are in another advertiser or Floodlight configuration, then an error displays stating that the app is linked to another Floodlight configuration for this analytics partner. Verify that you have selected the correct app and partner.

GMP discrepancies

See the following table to learn about discrepancies and how to minimize them.

Differences in attribution models

Cause Description AppsFlyer tip

View-through attribution window

View-through in DV360/CM360 attribution window is 14 days, while the AppsFlyer default window is 1-day.

 Set the view-through window in AppsFlyer to match the view-through set in the DV360/CM360 setup window.
Incorrect Floodlight mapping

Mapping between AppsFlyer and GMP isn't correct
  • Verify the link ID, 
  • Verify AppsFlyer in-app events are correctly mapped to Floodlights. 
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