Getting started

Create an ad campaign in Yandex Direct. Go to the Campaign Wizard → App installs and in-app conversions:

1. Enter the app or tracking link.
2. Add ad elements (headings, texts, images, or videos).
3. Define the audience and set the targeting.
4. Enter the tracking link.
5. Define the target action.
6. Set a weekly budget.

First steps: set up tracking

You can use tracking to get data about app installations and events. The tracking system gathers installations and ad clicks, sending the data to Yandex Direct so the conversions can be attributed.

• Make sure the tracking link contains the required parameters. To learn how to do that, go to Help.
• Send all app installs to Yandex Direct, including unattributed ones, so the strategy can learn faster and earn you more conversions.
• To attribute app installs to clicks, set the window to 30 days. Set the window to 24 hours to attribute them to impressions.
• Enable attribution by impression to get more information about your ad efficiency.

Why do I need to verify my app?

Verify your app to set up retargeting for users who achieve the goals set in the tracker.

Set up an ad

• Add as much information about your app as possible: ad headings, texts (six options for each), images, and videos. Yandex algorithms will create all possible ad variants — the more variants you have, the higher the chances that your ad wins the auction and is shown to users.
• Upload two versions of images and videos in vertical, horizontal, and square formats: 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1. The approximate sizes are 1000×1778, 1778×1000, and 1000×1000.
• Make sure the headings and texts are no more than 56 and 81 characters long, respectively. To learn more about ad content requirements, go to Help.
• Make sure the text, logo, and app store icon don’t cover the most of the image. We recommend placing the most important elements closer to the center so they’re displayed correctly no matter how the image is cropped. To learn more about image requirements, go to Help.

Where your ads are shown

Limiting campaigns by a platform narrows their reach and makes it harder to train the strategy, which means your ads are less effective. Launch a campaign with impressions both in Search and the YAN (Yandex Advertising Network) to reach the widest possible audience.

If you need to manage ad placements in Search and the YAN separately, you can launch two different campaigns. For example, people rarely search for games in Search, so game ads perform better in the YAN. Vice versa, search ads are better suited for businesses with a strong brand. In these cases, it makes sense to have separate search and ad network campaigns.

Autotargeting and keywords

Autotargeting is a technology that displays ads without you manually adding keywords. Yandex algorithms will identify the app ad’s audience by looking at user interests. Autotargeting is enabled in the Campaign Wizard by default.

You can manage which search query categories autotargeting will select in search campaigns with mobile app ads. There are five categories available:

• Targeted. The ad completely matches user queries. This category is enabled by default, and you can’t disable it.
• Alternative. The advertised product can replace what the user is looking for. The ad matches the query.
• Related. The advertised goods and services supplement the product in the query.
• Queries mentioning competitors. The user is searching for the advertised product’s competitor.
• Broad. Includes searches from the broader product category.

Autotargeting can determine the potential ad audience, but adding a few keywords makes the algorithms more accurate.

• Use 15-200 keywords
• Make sure the keywords describe your offer and reflect the needs your product or service can meet
• Add negative keywords to block impressions for non-targeted queries

Ad strategy overview

CPA optimization

This strategy helps attract more users who will perform targeted actions. It is billed via pay-per-click and aims to keep the price at the weekly average.

When to use the strategy

• You need to launch and train ad campaigns quickly
• The ad campaign goal is purchases or other in-app actions rather than just an installation
• You need to launch a retargeting campaign

What to take into account during setup:

• Allocate a weekly budget of at least 70 × tCPA to give the campaign enough data to train on.
• For optimization, select an event with a frequency of at least ten in-app conversions per day.
• Set the in-app event attribution window to seven days for clicks and 24 hours for impressions if possible.
• Set the tCPA 30% higher than the actual CPA for CPI campaigns.
• If the campaign goal is only conversions from new users, block impressions to current users by adjusting the bid for the audience segment to -100%.
• The strategy works within the weekly budget, so the CPA may vary depending on the day.

CPI optimization

Use this strategy to maximize the number of installations. Each installation costs as much as you’re willing to pay.

When to use a pay-per-install strategy

• The campaign goal is the installation itself
• You need to stick to a specific installation cost
• It’s hard to identify a target installation cost
• You need to test an app campaign in Yandex Direct

What to take into account during setup:

• Set a weekly budget of 70 × tCPI so the campaign can collect enough data for training. The recommended value is 350 × tCPI. To train a campaign successfully, you need at least ten installations per day.
• Set target values relative to the business and use data from past campaigns if you’ve already advertised this app. That data will help you set competitive bids and find the best settings.
• Follow the recommendations in the interface. For example, they may appear if you enter a CPA that’s too low.
• Note: with this strategy, users who have installed the app are automatically excluded from the ad campaign audience.

Weekly budget

The weekly budget is the amount the campaign spends in a calendar week. Yandex Direct distributes the funds to attract as many installations as possible within the budget. The strategy should run throughout the calendar week without any pauses or changes to ensure that the limit is applied.

If you change the weekly budget in the middle of the week

A CPA campaign:

• Won’t remember how much was spent before the changes.
• Will try to spend the rest of the weekly budget by the end of the week. If you adjust the budget on a Friday, about 3/7 of the new weekly budget will be spent the rest of the week.

A CPI campaign:

• Won’t remember how much was spent before the changes.
• Won’t try to allocate the budget for the entire week. If you adjust the budget in the middle of the week, it could be spent both before the end of the week and on the same day.

Bid adjustments

Adjustments can make targeting more accurate. You can adjust for gender, age, region, or Yandex Audience segment.

• To increase the bid, specify a value from 1% to 1200%
• To lower the bid by gender, age, or a set of conditions, use a value from -1% to -100% (block impressions). To lower the bid by region, use a value from -1% to -90%.

Budget recommendations

• Set a weekly budget of at least 70 × tCPA so the campaign can get enough data for training.
• Don’t use the daily budget for a shared account — that limits campaign impressions in the account.

After campaign launch

• Check to see if postbacks are processed. Make sure the settings are shown in your tracker and Yandex Direct account.
• Don’t change the attribution window for active campaigns. That makes the strategy less effective, meaning ads will bring fewer clicks or installs.

Installations from alternative app stores You can get installations from Google Play and other Android app stores. For example, the Huawei and Xiaomi app stores.

Add your app to GetApps and AppGallery and promote it in Yandex Direct to get more installations: tests show that these placements increase ad conversion rates up to two times.

To set up a transition to an alternative app store, read the manual.

Three key principles for effective mobile app promotion in 2023

• Use the widest possible targeting to give the strategy more data for training. This will bring you better and quicker results.
• Upload as much creative content as possible. The more options the algorithms have, the more chances your ads have to win auctions.
• Publish apps in alternative Android stores to increase conversions at a lower cost.