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The Apple SKAdNetwork is an attribution framework designed for mobile app install attribution on iOS 14. Apple itself controls the attribution post back in this framework and limits the data provided in the post back event. The most important aspect of this framework is that customers will not be able to tie the impression (auction ID) back to the original user who clicked on the ad and installed your app, which will limit an advertiser’s ability to optimize performance campaigns for iOS. Beeswax has adapted its reporting and attribution products to accommodate for these changes.
SKAdNetwork is only applicable if you are running mobile app install campaigns on iOS 14 and:
In a traditional post back from a Mobile Measurement Provider (MMP), Beeswax receives the following information from the MMP:
This information allows Beeswax users to tie these conversions back to the attributed impression and therefore optimize toward conversions based on the fields of the attributed impression.
As part of the new SKAdNetwork measures from Apple, Beeswax receives less data on the attribution post back:
* Beeswax will only receive conversion values if the number of conversions meets Apple's SKAdnetwork privacy thresholds. Apple has not released any details about what this threshold is, and many ad networks report that very few postbacks include them (Source: Branch).
Apple limits Beeswax (and all advertising platforms) to 100 “SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs” per advertised app bundle. This 1-100 value is the most granular identifier available, and can be used to provide some means of tying a conversion back to a Beeswax line item or creative/line item combination.
Customers will be able to decide on which level they would like to track SKAdNetwork conversions using the following options:
| Option | SKAdNetwork Campaign ID Generation | Discussion on Tradeoffs |
| Line Item | Beeswax generates an SKAdNetwork campaign ID just for the Line item | Less granular reporting, but will eat up SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs less aggressively. |
| Line Item/Creative Level | Beeswax generates an SKAdNetwork for every Line Item/Creative combo | Use to distinguish which creative receives attribution for the conversion. More granular reporting but will eat up SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs more aggressively. Customers with lots of creatives may want to consider fewer creatives or using the Line Item option. |
The above options will be set at the Line Item level, allowing you to set SKAdNetwork conversion tracking at the Line Item or Line Item/Creative combination for others. . These Line Items can reside under the same Campaign.
If you are intending to run and track mobile app install campaigns on iOS 14, follow the below steps to set up SKAdNetwork attribution in Beeswax.
If Enable SKAd Tracking is set to YES on the line item, there will be an option to select a SKAd Assignment Level from the below two options:
The Target SKAd-Enabled Supply field is set to YES by default. This ensures that the line item will only buy inventory that is eligible for SKAdNetwork attribution by Beeswax.
SKAdNetwork Campaign ID Allocation
A single advertised App Bundle can have up to 20 SKAdNetwork IDs per advertised app per buzz key. However, if you are a direct advertiser and owner of the app in question, you may reserve additional SKAdNetwork IDs--please contact your Beeswax CSM to be enabled for more SKAdNetworkIDs should it be necessary.
With this limit of 20 SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs, Beeswax has a mechanism to “release” a SKAdNetwork Campaign ID to be reused later. An SKAdNetwork Campaign ID is just an ID used for attribution purposes, and once the attribution window is closed our system can release the SKAdNetwork Campaign ID to be used by another Line Item or Line Item/Creative.
You can report on SKAdNetwork conversions through the following feeds:
| Aggregated Report | Discussion | Fields |
| Conversion Report | SKAdNetwork conversions will appear in the Conversion Report. They can be identified and filtered out by using either the existing “Attribution Method” or “Conversion Type” dimension which will now contain “SKADNETWORK” as a potential value. |
NOTE: The SKAdNetwork Campaign ID will not be exposed in reporting |
| Performance Report | SKAdNetwork conversions will NOT appear in the Performance report since there is no impression to tie the conversion back to | N/A |
SKAdNetwork Conversions will only appear in Attributed Conversion Logs. They will not appear in standard Conversion Logs. This is because Beeswax needs to apply some manual attribution workflows in order to attribute the SKAdNetwork Campaign ID to the correct Buzz Key/Line Item/Creative ID combination.
Conversion Logs would typically include all Conversions, with Attributed Conversions only being a subset of this total number. Now, SKAdNetwork conversions are mutually exclusive from Conversion Logs (the Venn diagram below illustrates this). The red circle is Conversion Logs and the blue circle is Attributed Conversion logs:
Conversions outside of the SKAdNetwork methodology will be unaffected by these changes.
To help in understanding the scale of the reduction of presence of IDFAs, we have added a new grouping dimension called “ID Present” which will be present on the following Report Types:
This field has 3 possible values:
This new feature allows users to filter or pivot data in Report Builder using ‘ID Present’ as a dimension.
Setting up MMP Forwarding is done on the Advertiser level. There is currently no way to configure SKAD forwarding on a campaign or line item basis. When enabled, all the SKAD Conversions for the given Advertiser will be forwarded to the desired MMP. If you do not see this option available on the Advertiser, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
If an Advertiser has "Enable SKAD Tracking" toggled on, you will be able to select an Eligible MMP for SKAD Forwarding from the dropdown:
Beeswax currently supports AppsFlyer and Singular as MMP partners. You can opt to forward to one of these MMPs or choose “None”. As more MMPs are added in the future, they will appear here. Note that only one MMP can be selected per Advertiser, but this field can be changed after it is initially set. This setting is also changeable via the API.
Q: I want to test SKAdNetwork now--do I need to change anything with my MMP set up including the click urls they define in Buzz?
A: No, you do not need to change anything with your MMP setup. Beeswax is working closely with MMPs to understand and potentially support their additional SKAdNetwork offerings.
Q: How do MMPs work in SKAdNetwork?
A: Each MMP has a slightly different proposal for how to work with SKAdTracking. Beeswax is working with all major MMPs to understand how things may change.
Q: Do SSPs need to support SKAdNetwork?
A: Yes, SSPs are required to support SKAdNetwork in order for installs to track properly in programmatic. We expect all mobile app exchanges to support it, including Google Ad Exchange.
Q: This 20 SkAdNetwork Campaign ID limit seems very limiting, is there any way around it?
A: Apple limits the number of SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs available per buying platform. If you are a direct advertiser and owner of the app in question, you may reserve additional SKAdNetwork IDs--please contact your Beeswax CSM to be enabled for more SKAdNetworkIDs should it be necessary.
Q: What will mobile app install advertisers be able to optimize towards on iOS 14 once Apple releases these changes?
A: This may vary greatly between advertisers, who will likely take different approaches. You may choose to revert back to optimizing towards clicks where you can still get the rich auction information to optimize towards. You may also choose to use the information you receive from Apple on iOS 14 to optimize:
Q: Can SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs be reused?
A: Yes. The same SKAdNetwork Campaign ID for the same advertised app bundle can be reused in the future. Apple has a 30 day lookback window for all postback installs, so any SKAdNetwork Campaign ID used should not be re-used until at least 30 days has passed since it has served impressions. Otherwise there is risk for misattribution. Beeswax will automatically “expire” an SKAdNetwork Campaign ID in use 35 days after the line item is made inactive.
Q: Can we force an expiration of SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs?
A: Yes, if you make a mistake and want Beeswax to manually expire a SKAdNetwork Campaign ID, please reach out to Beeswax Support with the Beeswax Campaign ID and/or Line Item ID in question.
Q: What happens if we go over our SKAdNetwork Campaign ID limit?
A: Buzz enforces the limit and will prevent additional Lines or Creative-Line Associations from being made active.
Q: Can we manually set SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs to mean certain things?
A: No, Beeswax does not allow manually setting SKAdNetwork Campaign IDs.
Q: What can someone do with the conversion value field?
A: The value field is being used by many marketers to pass data about post-install activities such as purchases and upgrades. Beeswax is agnostic as to how this value is used, and merely passes it through to the customer in Attributed Conversion Logs. Beeswax will only receive conversion values if the number of conversions meets Apple's SKAdnetwork privacy thresholds. Apple has not released any details about what this threshold is, and many ad networks report that very few postbacks include them (Source: Branch).
Q: How do you decide whether an ID is ‘present’ when referring to the “ID Present” field in Reporting?
A: For the purposes of ‘ID Present’, an impression must have one of the following two IDs present on the bid request:
Q: Is the MMP integration going to be the same for other MMPs?
A: We expect most of the MMPs will be relatively similar. A few have minor differences, but we tentatively anticipate similar data flows and field mapping paradigms.
Q: Will it be possible to backfill historical SKAD conversions to an MMP after we turn on an integration or if we switch the integration to another MMP (in the future)?
A: No.
Q: Does an MMP SKAD Integration replace the existing MMP integration with Beeswax?
A: No, SKAD is complementary. For example, if the user is still opted into IDFA or is on an Android device, Beeswax will still receive postbacks from the MMP in the normal way.
Q: Do I need to Target SKAd-Enabled Supply in order to use SKAd Tracking?
A: Strictly speaking, no, but this is not a recommended practice. Without targeting SKAd-Enabled Supply, the line item will bid on requests that are ineligible for SKAdNetwork attribution, defeating the purpose of SKAd Tracking.
Q: What is the iOS 14.5 adoption rate?
A: According to programmatic community data, there’s roughly a 15% adoption rate as of June 2021. We expect this will continue to rise.
Q: What percent of in-app traffic is Beeswax eligible to sign for SKAdNetwork?
A: Currently about 60% of all traffic coming from our main in-app partners are SKAdNetwork enabled and have Beeswax as an eligible signer. We should expect this to increase as iOS 14.5 is further adopted.
Q: Can this feature be used via the API?
A: Yes. Documentation on applying SKAd Tracking and Targeting via Buzz API can be found here and here.
