Measurement and attribution
What is the Google Play Install Referrer?
Short answer
The install referrer is the referrer value from a Google Play link, which Google Play passes to your app after installation through the Play Install Referrer API. The app reads it once on first run, and it stays available for 90 days. It gives deterministic install attribution on Android; the App Store has no equivalent.
How it travels
You add a referrer parameter to the Play Store link, usually URL-encoded UTM tags or a click ID. Google Play keeps it through the install. On first launch, the app asks the Install Referrer API for it and gets back the exact value, so there’s no guessing about which link brought the install. The value doesn’t change unless the app is reinstalled. Because it’s exact, it also works for deferred deep links: put the destination in the referrer and open it on first launch.
Limits
It only covers installs from Google Play; other Android stores have their own ways of passing data, or none. On iPhone there is no referrer at all.
Apple offers App Store campaign links instead. They give aggregate numbers per campaign in App Store Connect rather than a value the app can read after each install.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.app&referrer=utm_source%3DnewsletterRelated terms
- UTM parameters
UTM parameters are five tags you add to a link, utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content, so analytics tools know where a visit came from. Apps add a catch: the App Store drops them, and Google Play only keeps them inside its referrer parameter.
- Deferred deep link
A deferred deep link is a deep link whose destination survives the app install. Someone without the app taps it, goes to the store, installs, and on first launch the app opens the screen the link promised, such as a product, an invite or a promo code, instead of the home screen.
- Mobile attribution
Mobile attribution is working out which ad, campaign or link brought an app install or an in-app action, such as a sign-up or a purchase. It can be deterministic, based on a click ID, the install referrer or the link that opened the app, or probabilistic, based on statistical matching.
One link for every phone
Create a free smart link and QR code that sends iPhones to the App Store, Android phones to Google Play and desktops to your website.