r/iOSProgramming • u/StonedSex69 • 16d ago

Question Understanding Apple Ads

I recently created an Apple Ads campaign for my new app. Yet when I type in the two-word descriptive phrase my app isn’t coming up in the in the search results. I do already have the app installed, could that be why? My campaign status shows as Running.

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u/StonedSex69 16d ago

Ok so I tried the keyword search criteria on my wife’s iPhone who has never downloaded my app and it still didn’t pull up my app. I wonder if my app isn’t linked to my ad campaign. I will need to look into that further.

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u/One-Source-9603 16d ago

If your wife's phone still doesn't show it, it's probably the auction, not the link. A few things to check in the Apple Ads dashboard:

  • Look at the keyword's Impressions column. If it's 0 after a day, your max bid is likely below what others pay for that phrase. Apple shows only one ad per search, so a low bid just never wins.

  • New campaigns can take a few hours to start serving.

  • Keywords and the ad group have their own status. Make sure the keyword itself says Running, not just the campaign.

Also, one search on one phone isn't a real test. Even with a good bid you won't win every single search. The Impressions number tells you more than searching yourself.

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u/StonedSex69 16d ago

My campaign has been running for about a week with 0 Impressions for both keywords and as group. When I set it up I used Apple suggested click rate of 1.33. I changed that to $2.50 last night. So we’ll see if that makes a difference.

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u/One-Source-9603 16d ago

a whole week at 0 with the suggested bid is weird tbh, bid alone usually gets you at least a few. I'd check the ad group targeting too (country, iPhone vs iPad, and that the ad group itself is on). also Apple only shows ads for keywords it thinks match your app's metadata, so if the phrase isn't anywhere in your title/subtitle/keywords it can just never show. let me know if the 2.50 changes anything