Tips for solving performance issues

If your campaign is newly created, it may take some time before you start seeing results. Keep the following in mind:

1. It may take 24–48 hours for performance data to gather once a new campaign is activated, so we recommend letting your campaign run for several days before making major changes.

2. Adjust your reporting date range if you want to view data from the current day. Campaigns dashboard data defaults to display activity from the last seven days, which excludes the current day.
   
   If you’re still not seeing impressions on your App Store campaigns, review the tips below.

Many factors can affect whether your ads receive impressions, including relevancy, max CPT bid amount compared with your competitors, and — for search results campaigns — the number of times customers on the App Store search for apps like yours.

Impressions aren’t guaranteed, but you can do a few things to improve your chances of getting seen by potential customers:

• Review your app metadata in App Store Connect.
  Your app title, descriptions, and keywords are all used to assess your app’s relevance for specific search queries, so make sure that your metadata is an accurate representation of your app. Note that if you update metadata, it can take up to two hours to reflect in your ad on the App Store, and up to 24 hours to reflect in the ad preview within your account.
• Keep the default audience settings.
  Audience settings are automatically set to Reach All Eligible Users to help you reach the most App Store customers. If you modify this audience setting, you may narrow the potential audience and reduce the number of impressions your ad receives.
• Expand reach to new countries and regions.
  Running your ad in every country and region where your app is available can give you more opportunities to reach interested customers.
• Use multiple ad placements.
  Adding more placements — like Search tab, Today tab, or product page ads — across the App Store can show more people what your app has to offer, helping to increase searches for your brand and downloads of your app. Note that product page ads aren’t currently available on the App Store in mainland China.
• Review and apply recommendations.
  Customized recommendations and estimated results are available and updated daily to help you identify opportunities and drive informed campaign decisions.

For search results campaigns, you may also want to:

• Choose relevant keywords.
  Create a campaign that includes the most relevant keywords for your app. Add keywords like your app’s name and terms that explain the service that your app provides or the need that it meets. You can use the keyword suggestion tool or keyword recommendations if you need help.
• Increase your maximum cost-per-tap (max CPT) bid.
  Your current bid may not be competitive enough. Many developers raise it gradually while measuring results. You can use bid recommendations as a guide while you make adjustments.
• Create a campaign with Search Match turned on.
  With Search Match on, your ad may be matched automatically to search terms without you having to figure out all keyword possibilities and actively bid on them.
• Analyze Search Match results.
  Doing so can help you identify search terms that are performing well. Once you know which terms work, add them as exact match keywords at a higher max CPT bid.
• Check your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) cap.
  If you set your CPA cap too low or below your max CPT bid, you may miss out on valuable impressions and conversions.
• Use impression share reports.
  Impression share metrics can be found in the predefined Impression Share custom reports and in bid recommendations. This metric can help you see the share of impressions your ad received from the total impressions served on the same keywords, in the same countries or regions. The higher the impression share, the more coverage you’re getting. If the impression share is low, you may want to increase your bid. You can also use this information to add new, relevant keywords, and remove keywords that aren’t performing well.

Want to learn more? Get certified.

Apple Search Ads Certification can help you gain the skills and knowledge that you need to see results. Review lessons on how to set up new campaigns for success, structure campaigns for growth, choose the right keywords, and more.