What Is Mobile Attribution?
Mobile attribution determines which marketing channel, campaign, or creative led a user to install your app. When someone sees your ad on TikTok, clicks it, and installs three hours later, attribution connects that install back to the specific campaign.
Without attribution, you are flying blind. You know money goes out and installs come in, but you have no idea which dollars actually work.
How Attribution Works
- User sees or clicks an ad and the ad network records the event
- User arrives at the app store through a redirect or deferred deep link
- User installs and opens the app and the MMP SDK fires on first launch
- MMP matches the install by comparing against recorded clicks and impressions
- Attribution is assigned to the winning touchpoint
Attribution Models
- Last-click - Credit goes to the last ad clicked before install. Most common
- Last-touch - Includes view-through attribution for ads seen but not clicked
- Multi-touch (MTA) - Distributes credit across multiple touchpoints
- Incrementality testing - Measures true lift by comparing exposed vs. control groups
What Is an MMP?
A Mobile Measurement Partner is a third-party platform providing unbiased attribution across all marketing channels. Ad networks grade their own homework, so only an MMP can deduplicate and give you a single source of truth.
MMPs also provide fraud prevention, deep linking, audience building, and cross-channel visibility.
Major MMP Platforms in 2026
| MMP | Strengths | Best For | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| AppsFlyer | Market leader, most integrations, fraud suite | Mid to large apps | Per install fee |
| Adjust | Privacy focus, Datascape analytics | European apps | Tiered monthly |
| Singular | Cost aggregation + attribution unified | Unified spend view | Monthly plans |
| Branch | Best deep linking, web-to-app | Heavy web traffic | Free tier available |
| Kochava | Flexible, self-serve and enterprise | Multi-app portfolios | Monthly plans |
For apps under 50K monthly installs, Branch (free tier) or Adjust (starter) work well. For $50K+ monthly ad spend, AppsFlyer or Singular provide the depth needed.
SKAdNetwork 5.0 on iOS
Apple's privacy-preserving attribution framework is the primary way to measure iOS campaigns post-ATT:
- Multiple conversion windows at 0-2, 3-7, and 8-35 days post-install
- Fine-grained values (0-63) when privacy thresholds are met, coarse values as fallback
- Redownload attribution and web-to-app support
- Crowd anonymity tiers providing more data for higher-volume campaigns
SKAN data is delayed (24-48 hours minimum), aggregated, and sometimes null. Teams use predictive models to estimate LTV from limited early signals.
Google Privacy Sandbox
Google's Privacy Sandbox for Android is replacing the Google Advertising ID:
- Attribution Reporting API for event-level and aggregate reports
- Topics API replacing behavioral targeting with interest categories
- Protected Audiences enabling remarketing without cross-app tracking
Full GAID deprecation is expected by late 2026. MMPs are already integrating these APIs.
Fraud Detection
Ad fraud costs billions annually. Common types include click flooding, click injection, SDK spoofing, and install farms. MMPs combat fraud through device fingerprinting, behavioral analysis, and click-to-install time analysis.
Setting Up Attribution Right
- Integrate your MMP SDK before running any paid campaigns
- Define conversion events: install, registration, purchase, subscription
- Configure postbacks to ad networks for algorithm optimization
- Set attribution windows (7 days click-through, 24 hours view-through)
- Enable all available fraud filters from day one
- Test deferred deep links across iOS and Android