Apple Ads Glossary: The Terms You Actually Need to Know

If you've spent any time inside Apple Ads, you've probably hit a wall of acronyms — CPT, TTR, SKAdNetwork — and wondered if you need a decoder ring just to read your own dashboard.

This Apple Ads glossary is here to fix that, without turning it into homework. We picked the terms that actually come up when you're running Apple Ads campaigns for a mobile app or game, and explained each one the way we'd explain it to a new teammate: plainly, with the "why it matters" included. No 200-term wall of jargon to scroll through — just what you need to read your own campaigns and talk shop with confidence.

Apple Ads basics

Apple Ads — Apple's advertising platform for App Store apps, previously called Apple Ads. Advertisers bid to show their app where people search for and browse apps. Why it matters: People see these ads when they're already in the App Store looking for an app, so intent is unusually high.

Placements — Where an ad can appear: the Today tab, the Search tab (before someone types a search), search results (the most common and most competitive placement) and product pages (in the "You might also like" list). Why it matters: Each placement reaches a different mindset, so budgets and expectations should be set per placement.

Campaign structure — How an account is organized: campaigns contain ad groups, and ad groups contain keywords or audiences. Why it matters: A clean structure, typically split into brand, competitor, category and discovery campaigns, makes spend easy to read and keeps campaigns from competing with each other.

Ad group — A subdivision of a campaign that holds its own keywords, bids, audience settings and ads. Why it matters: Ad groups are where most day-to-day optimization happens.

Brand campaign — A campaign that bids on your own app or company name. Why it matters: It protects your branded searches from competitors who bid on your name.

Audience settings — Rules for who is eligible to see an ad, such as location, device, age, gender, and new versus returning users. Why it matters: Audience settings let you focus spend on new users or run separate re-engagement campaigns.

Product page — Your app's listing in the App Store, where an ad tap takes the user. Why it matters: The ad gets the tap, but the product page has to win the download.

Keywords and matching

Keyword — A search term you bid on so your ad can appear when people search for it. Why it matters: Your keywords decide which searches you compete for and what you pay to show up.

Exact match vs. broad match — Exact match shows your ad only for that term and close variants of it. Broad match also covers related searches, such as plurals, synonyms and longer phrases. Why it matters: Exact match gives you control and predictable costs. Broad match finds more volume but needs closer watching and negative keywords.

Search Match — Apple Ads automation that matches your ad to relevant searches using your app's metadata and similar apps, without a keyword list. Why it matters: It's the main way to find new, high-performing search terms that you can later move into exact-match campaigns.

Discovery campaign — A campaign that uses Search Match and broad match to find new keywords. Why it matters: It keeps your keyword list growing so you're not relying only on terms you already know.

Negative keyword — A term you exclude so your ad won't show for it. Why it matters: It stops spend on irrelevant searches and keeps discovery campaigns from bidding on keywords you already target elsewhere.

Keyword cannibalization — When two or more of your campaigns or ad groups compete for the same search. Why it matters: You end up bidding against yourself, which muddies reporting and can raise costs. Clean structure and negative keywords prevent it.

Ad relevance — How closely your app and its creative match what the user searched for. Why it matters: Apple weighs relevance alongside your bid, so a highly relevant app can win taps without always bidding the most.

Costs and bidding

Term	Formula	What it tells you
CPT (Cost per Tap)	Apple Ads spend ÷ taps	What you pay on average for each tap on your ad. This is how Apple Ads charges for search ads.
CPM (Cost per Mille)	Spend ÷ impressions × 1,000	What 1,000 impressions cost. Apple Ads charges this way for Today tab placements.
CPI (Cost per Install)	Spend ÷ attributed installs	What each install costs
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)	Spend ÷ acquisitions	What each conversion you care about costs. It can be an install, but often it's a sign-up, trial or purchase.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)	Attributed revenue ÷ ad spend	Revenue returned for every dollar of ad spend

Max CPT bid — The most you're willing to pay for a single tap on a keyword or ad group. The live post called this a "bid cap." Why it matters: It's your main lever on cost and volume. Set it too low and you lose auctions. Set it too high and you overpay for each tap.

Suggested bid range — Apple's estimate of the bids that are likely to be competitive for a keyword. Why it matters: It's a useful starting point, but your target CPA or ROAS should decide your final bid.

Second-price auction — The auction model behind Apple Ads. The winner usually pays just enough to beat the next-highest competitor, not their full max bid. Why it matters: Your actual CPT is usually below your max CPT bid. Bidding should be based on what a tap is worth to you.

Daily budget — The most a campaign can spend in one day. Why it matters: It controls how fast you spend, which matters most during seasonal spikes.

Bid management — The ongoing work of adjusting bids to hit cost and volume targets. Why it matters: Auction prices change daily, so bids that are never adjusted end up overpaying or losing auctions.

Tip: When you compare CPA, CPI or ROAS, check that the date range, attribution source and conversion window are the same. Apple Ads reports and your MMP (mobile measurement partner) can count the same campaign differently.

Performance and visibility metrics

Term	Formula	What it tells you
Taps	Count of ad taps	How many people tapped your ad and went toward your product page
TTR (Tap-Through Rate)	Taps ÷ impressions × 100%	How appealing and relevant your ad is to the people who see it
CVR (Conversion Rate)	Conversions ÷ taps × 100%	How well your product page turns taps into installs or other actions
Impression Share	Impressions received ÷ eligible impressions × 100%	How much of the available visibility for a keyword you're capturing. Apple reports it as a range.
Share of Voice (SOV)	Your impressions ÷ all ad impressions for a keyword and storefront × 100%	Your visibility compared with competing apps, often estimated by third-party tools
DAU / MAU	Unique users per day / per month	How many people actively use the app
Retention rate	Users still active on day N ÷ users acquired × 100%	Whether the users you acquire stick around (day 1, day 7, day 30)
LTV (Lifetime Value)	Expected total revenue per user	How much you can afford to spend to acquire a user

Impression Share vs. SOV — Both measure visibility, but they aren't the same number. Apple's Impression Share is reported in ranges. SOV is usually a more detailed estimate from a third-party tool. Why it matters: Always say which one you're quoting, and don't put them side by side as if they were the same.

Re-downloads — Installs by people who have downloaded your app before. Why it matters: Re-downloads can inflate install counts. Split them out when you report new-user acquisition.

Churn rate — The share of users who stop using the app over a given period. Why it matters: High churn means even cheap installs may not pay off, so look at it alongside CPI.

Creative and store presence

ASO (App Store Optimization) — The ongoing work of improving how easily people find your app in the App Store and how often they download it from your product page. It covers your title, subtitle, keywords, screenshots, preview videos, ratings and localization. Why it matters: ASO and Apple Ads support each other. A stronger product page raises CVR on every paid tap and improves organic rankings too.

Custom Product Pages (CPPs) — Alternate versions of your product page, each with its own screenshots, preview videos and promotional text, built for a specific audience or message. You can link CPPs to ad groups as ad variations. Why it matters: A user who searches "puzzle games for adults" can land on a page built for that search, not your generic listing. Matching the page to the search usually lifts CVR. (CPPs replace the old Creative Sets feature.)

Creative assets — The visual materials on your listing and in your ads: the app icon, screenshots and preview videos. Why it matters: For many users the screenshots and preview videos are the ad, so they drive both TTR and CVR.

Localization — Adapting your metadata and creative to each storefront's language and culture. Why it matters: A localized page can rank for local-language keywords and convert far better than a translated one.

A/B testing — Testing two or more versions of your product page or creative to see which performs better. On the App Store, this is done with Product Page Optimization. Why it matters: Testing shows you what actually converts, instead of relying on guesses.

App Store seasonality — Predictable changes in competition, costs and conversion around holidays, back-to-school and other events. Why it matters: CPTs often rise in Q4. Plan budgets, bids and seasonal creative ahead of time.

Measurement and attribution

Attribution — Deciding which ad, channel or campaign gets credit for an install or in-app action. Why it matters: Attribution decides which campaigns look profitable, so it shapes where your budget goes.

Apple Ads attribution — Linking an install or action back to a specific Apple Ads tap, usually through Apple's AdServices framework. Why it matters: It's how you see results down to the keyword level for Apple Ads. It runs on Apple's own rules, so its numbers won't always match other sources.

SKAdNetwork — Apple's privacy-focused framework for measuring app-install ads across ad networks. Results come back aggregated and delayed, not per user. Why it matters: It's privacy-safe by design, but you get less detail and slower data. Expect modeled, campaign-level insight, not user-level tracking.

MMP (Mobile Measurement Partner) — A third-party platform, such as AppsFlyer, Adjust or Kochava, that brings attribution from all your channels into one place. Why it matters: It lets you compare Apple Ads with your other channels. Its attribution windows and rules can differ from Apple's own reporting.

Conversion window — The amount of time after a tap during which an install or action still counts toward that ad. Why it matters: A 7-day window and a 30-day window give different CPA and ROAS for the same campaign. Always say which one you used.

Working with a partner

UA (User Acquisition) — The work of attracting and converting new users, whether through paid channels or organic ones. Why it matters: Apple Ads is one part of a UA strategy. It works best when it's planned alongside ASO and your other channels.

UA engine — Technology, often AI-driven, that keeps managing bids, budgets and targeting around the clock. Why it matters: Auctions change every hour. Automation reacts faster than manual bid changes, and people can focus on strategy.

Full-service management — An agency that runs the whole campaign lifecycle for you, from setup and keyword research through creative, bidding and reporting. Why it matters: You get specialist expertise without hiring an in-house team.

Pay-for-performance — A pricing model where agency fees are tied to results, not a flat retainer. Why it matters: Your agency's incentives match your growth goals.

The bottom line

You don't need to memorize every term. After a few campaigns most of them become second nature. The terms that matter most are CPT, CVR, CPA and ROAS. Keep their definitions consistent, with the same date range, attribution source and conversion window, and your reports will be easy to trust.

Have a question about a term we didn't cover, or want a second opinion on your Apple Ads setup? Get in touch with BrightLake, and follow The Beacon Blog, for updates on new Apple Ads features.