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Advanced | Overview

Solve campaign issues

If your app isn’t available in the Create Campaign page of your Apple Search Ads account

If you’re trying to create a campaign but your app doesn’t appear as an option when you type or search, it may be because:

Your Apple ID isn’t associated with an App Store Connect account.

You must be assigned the Admin, Legal, App Manager or Marketing role in your App Store Connect account to link accounts to Apple Search Ads. If you’re an agency, please contact us. Agencies that plan to promote third-party apps are required to have Apple Search Ads accounts set as Agency accounts. Please note that the Agency setup process can take time and isn’t guaranteed.

Your app is new to the App Store.

It can take up to 24 hours for your app to appear when you create a campaign.

Your app can’t be promoted with Apple Search Ads.

Your app might be in violation of one or more of the Apple Search Ads Advertising Content Policies. It’s also possible that your app isn’t compliant with App Store Guidelines. Please review the policies; if you have any further questions, contact us.

Your app name contains a special character.

If your app name contains an accented letter or another unique character, make sure you include it consistently to ensure your app name appears in the Campaign Creation flow. To type an alternative version of a character, press and hold the key until its alternative characters are displayed. Then either click the one you want to use or type the number that appears underneath.

Learn more about special characters

If you’ve been notified that your Apple Search Ads campaigns are paused due to a policy violation

Your app might be in violation of one or more of the Apple Search Ads Advertising Content Policies. It’s also possible that your app isn’t compliant with App Store Review Guidelines. Please review the policies; if you have any further questions, contact us.

If Apple Search Ads is showing the wrong price for your app

If you change the price of your app on the App Store, it could take up to two hours for that change to appear in Apple Search Ads.

If you’re trying to advertise an app bundle

Apple Search Ads doesn’t currently support app bundles.

If you can’t access Apple Search Ads from your browser

This could be caused by the operating system or browser you’re using. Make sure you’re using one of the options below:

Supported operating systems

  • macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 or later
  • Windows 10 or later

Supported browsers

  • Safari 11.0.2 or later
  • Chrome 62 or later

If you’re not seeing impressions on your ads

Many factors can affect whether your ad receives impressions, including relevancy and bid amount compared with your competitors, and the number of times users on the App Store are searching for apps like yours.

Impressions aren’t guaranteed, but you can do a few things to improve your chances:

  • Increase your maximum cost-per-tap (max CPT) bid. Many developers raise it gradually while tracking results. You can refer to our suggested bid range and bid strength indicators as guides.
  • Turn on Search Match for automatic search term matching.
  • Analyse Search Match results to identify search terms that are performing well and add them as bidded keywords at a higher max CPT bid.
  • Turn off or limit audience refinements to expand your reach.
  • Check your CPA. If you set your CPA goal too low or below your max CPT bid, you may miss out on valuable impressions and conversions.

If your account is on hold

A campaign or account will reflect the status “on hold” if any of the following criteria are met:

If you’re trying to advertise a 32-bit app

Update your app to support 64 bits. Ads for 32-bit apps do not appear on the App Store to users on iOS 11.

Learn more about submitting apps

If you can’t run your campaigns on the App Store in France

In compliance with the French law known as the “Sapin Law”, which intends to make the business of media buying more transparent, only the advertiser who owns both the app and the Apple Search Ads account can promote an app on the App Store in France. That means if you’re an agency, an agent or a representative who manages Apple Search Ads for a client whose company is either registered, established or otherwise located in France, you’re not eligible to run ads on behalf of that client on the App Store in France.

If your campaigns on the App Store in France say they’re ‘Incomplete’

If you (or an account admin) previously self-identified as an Agent on the Account Information page of your account, you also need to answer the following question: Are you promoting the app on behalf of or for the benefit of a French company? Click the Edit Campaign Settings link on your Campaigns dashboard to answer this question.

If you (or an account admin) never previously self-identified as an Agent/Not an agent in your Account Information, you’ll need to answer the question of whether or not you’re promoting the app on behalf of a French company. If you already answered Yes to this question, then another account admin needs to answer this question. Once all users with the admin role in your account answer this question, the campaign status will update.