At a glance: Google Marketing Platform (GMP) is an AppsFlyer self-reporting network (SRN) partner combining advertising and analytics.
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.
Note
- If you want to use the API, you must contact your GMP account manager.
- The AppsFlyer internal name for this integration is dv360_int.
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 among the integrations are listed in the following table.
GMP API feature support
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 |
Advertisers considering migrating from the legacy API to Link ID API
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.
GMP solutions and integrations
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 |
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.
Mapping AppsFlyer in-app events to Floodlight
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 |
Example scenario:
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 media source mapping
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 |
Integration procedures
You can work with GMP directly, via an agency, or both. Complete the sections as follows:
- [Complete once—mandatory] Advertiser GMP integration
- [Optional per agency] Agency integration
Advertiser GMP integration
Integration tab sections
Step | Section | Description | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Activate partner |
Prerequisites: To activate the GMP App Attribution integration:
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2 |
Map in-app events to Floodlights |
To map Floodlights to AppsFlyer in-app events:
Remarks:
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Agency integration
Agencies are able to run campaigns with GMP on your behalf.
Agency setup
Procedure performed by | Procedure |
---|---|
Advertiser |
|
Agency |
|
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:
- Go to Advertiser > Resources > Floodlight > Floodlight Activities > New Floodlight Activity.
- Select Mobile App.
- Select the platform and app.
- Select Third-party app analytics.
- Select AppsFlyer.
- Click Create.
One of the following occurs:- If the app and AppsFlyer were previously created in the advertiser, the existing link displays without an option to save.
- 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 |
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