Facebook App Ads

FAQ & Troubleshooting for App Ads

Create AdVerify Your App Ads Setup

In this document:

FAQ

Troubleshooting

Do I need to register my app to run mobile app ads?

No, you can simply copy and paste your Apple App Store or Google Play URL, and our Ads Create Tool will pull basic information such as the title and icon image from the respective app store.

You should register your app, however, if you would like to:

  • Measure and track installs, and as a result open up CPA and oCPM bidding options for better performance
  • Run mobile app engagement ads

To measure installs, you need to register your app and either integrate our SDK or work with a Mobile Measurement Partner. Learn more here. To run mobile app engagement ads, please follow our tutorial here.

Can I run mobile app ads without using the SDK?

Yes, we allow anyone to run mobile app install ads from our Ads Create Tool simply by dropping the link to their Apple App Store or Google Play URL. For mobile app engagement ads, you will need to register your app, but can also run ads without the SDK.

However, without installing and using the SDK, Facebook will not be able to provide install or app event reporting, and thus you will not have the option to use more advanced bidding options (oCPM, CPA) or see performance beyond clicks.

How does the Facebook SDK or a Mobile Measurement Partner make mobile app ads more effective?

Using the Facebook SDK or a Mobile Measurement Partner enables you to measure when your app is installed or when additional actions are taken in your app. With this, you can choose to begin using our advanced bidding options, such as oCPM bidding to optimize delivery for installs or CPA bidding to pay per install. You will also have better insight into performance by understanding which ads drove what installs or actions.

When a user first launches your app with the SDK, we log the install in your Analytics for Apps under "App Installs." You will also see app events reported under the "App Events" tab.

Will adding measurement affect the user experience of my app?

There will be no user-facing changes to your app as a result of adding measurement capabiltiy via the Facebook SDK or a Mobile Measurement Partner SDK.

How can I confirm the SDK was set up properly and is reporting installs?

When a user first launches your app with the SDK, we log the install in your Analytics for Apps under "App Installs." You will also see app events reported under the "App Events" tab. In addition, you can check the App Summary Page - after choosing your app, there is a time stamp 'Last Mobile Install Reported" for iOS and Android so that you can confirm that an install is being reported.

You can also test your integration with a test build of your app before submitting to the appropriate app store by having a test user try installing your app on their mobile device and then checking to see if the install reports per the above instructions. Note that you do not need to run any Facebook ads in order to test this.

Is it possible to check whether installs are tracked properly using a test app?

Yes, if you point your test app at your Facebook app ID we will record installs at that Facebook app ID. You then just need to go to your Facebook App Dashboard to see recorded installs.

Do I need to submit my app to App Center?

No, it is not required. However, we do recommend you submit your app to the App Center to take advantage of all the organic channels through which people can discover your app.

How can I let someone else run ads for my app?

If you need to associate advertising accounts with your app (so that users who aren't admins can run ads for your app), you will need to first click "Apps" at the top navigation from any Facebook Developers site page and choose your app.

Next, go to "Settings" on the left hand navigation.

From the settings tab, choose "Advanced", and you will find a section called "Advertising Accounts".

In the "Authorized Ad Account IDs" field, enter the Ad Account IDs for the ad accounts you want to be able to promote your app.

It was previously possible to enter users in this section. That functionality is no longer supported - you should add the Ad Account IDs here and grant users access to those Ad Accounts using Business Manager or other advertising tools.

How can I let someone else have access to my Facebook Analytics for Apps?

If you would like to give someone else access to your Analytics for Apps so they can see installs other events reported by your app, you will need to first click "Apps" at the top navigation from any Facebook Developers site page, then choose your app.

Next, you will need to choose "Roles" from the left-hand navigation.

Ensure you are under the "Roles" tab at the top, then scroll to the bottom of the page. You will see the role for "Insights Users" where you can add whomever you would like to have access by providing their name.

Viewing purchase related metrics requires admin access

How can I exclude existing users from seeing my ads?

For Android, users that already have your app installed are automatically excluded as long as you provide us your app's package name in the app settings page.

For iOS, add an array key called URL types to your app's main .plist file, and give it a single array sub-item called URL Schemes. Then add a single item to URL Schemes with your app ID prefixed with "fb", e.g. "fb1234567".

What options are there for measurement other than the Facebook SDK?

You should integrate the Facebook SDK for measurement if you have used a Facebook SDK before and want a quick way to measure installs and actions. Integrate our SDK and add a couple of lines of code to measure installs for your ad. If you choose to, you can also use our SDK to measure events taken within your app with our app events for iOS or for Android. This helps you measure the effectiveness of your ads at not just driving installs, but user engagement and any other post install actions within your app.

You can also work with one of our Mobile Measurement Partners if you want deeper insights (i.e ROI) or if you want measurement aggregated across several ad networks. Mobile measurement partners provide performance metrics (including attribution, lifetime value, downstream conversions, ROI, etc) and analysis across acquisition channels. Integration steps will differ by partner.

You can learn more about both options by reading our Measurement for Mobile App Ads tutorial.

Why am I seeing installs reported for a mobile app engagement ad?

If you're seeing installs reported for a mobile app engagement ad, it's because people have uninstalled your app or are viewing the ad on a device different from the one they downloaded the app on (ex: a second tablet or a new phone). If the device detects that the app is not currently installed, the ad will ask the user to re-install the app or install it for the first time on the new device. These installs are reported as engagement.

No, you do not need to use deep links to run engagement ads.

However, if you’d like to send someone to a specific location in your app from an engagement ad you will need to set up a deep link. This requires that your app can handle incoming deep links and that you have registered a URL scheme so that Facebook can send people to the appropriate place in your app from your ad.

If you have already registered your app using the App Dashboard, for example, to set up exclusion for mobile app install ads or to use other parts of the Facebook platform, your app already supports a URL scheme.

You can learn more about how to use deep links for your mobile app engagement ads in our tutorial.

Can I use view or click tags with mobile app install or engagement ads?

Mobile app install ads do not currently support view tags or clicks tags. Mobile app engagement ads do support additional tags. To do this you’ll need to use deep links to drive traffic from your mobile app engagement ads.

Can I track ROI with the Facebook SDK?

You can work with one of our Mobile Measurement Partners if you want deeper insights, including ROI, or if you want measurement aggregated across several ad networks. Mobile measurement partners provide performance metrics (including attribution, lifetime value, downstream conversions, ROI, etc) and analysis across acquisition channels. Integration steps will differ by partner.

You can also use app events for iOS or for Android to measure single purchases, for instance, in your app and the value associated with those individual purchases, but this is not considered true ROI analysis.

Where can I see App Events in my ads reporting?

If you have integrated app events for iOS or for Android, you can see what actions were taken as a result of your campaigns.

First, go to your Ads Manager and choose the appropriate campaign. If you are only measuring installs, you will see these both reported at the top of the page for the campaign overall as well as for each individual ad.

If you would like to see other events, however, you will need to click "Full Report" next.

If you scroll to the right, you will be able to see "Actions" as one of the columns -- this will report any action or event taken as a result of each ad. Please note that this is the aggregate of any and all actions (app events) taken as a result of your campaign.

You can then choose to "Edit Columns" which will render a pop-up where you can choose which specific actions you would like to see. Please note that any custom app events cannot be chosen at this time, even though they will still be counted in the aggregate "Actions" mentioned above.

Choose "Save Columns" and then scroll to the right again to see the new action added to your report.

Why am I seeing discrepancies between what the MMP is reporting and what FB is reporting?

One of the reasons may be a difference in the attribution windows reported. By default, Facebook reports 28 day click-through and 1 day view-through installs in Ads Manager. You can update the attribution window used by Facebook in the "Reports" tab under the "Actions" section.

To align MMP and Facebook reporting, please make sure that you are comparing installs over the same time period (14 day or 28 day click-through only installs, for instance).

How is star rating determined for my mobile app ad?

Star ratings for our mobile app ads will reflect those from Apple’s App Store or Google Play dependent upon the app’s platform.

My app has localized titles in the App store. How will these ads render?

Our system will automatically pull in the name and description for all the locales your app is available in. We will then display the appropriate version based on the user's locale. Note that this will also apply to the ad previews shown on our interfaces. Thus, for example, if the app has localized titles in USA, Canada and France, and if the person creating the ad is based in the US, the ad preview will only show the US version of the app name even if they are targeting another country. But the actual ad will render fine and display the name specific to the actual country the viewer is in.

Do mobile app ads serve in mobile web and native apps?

Mobile app install ads serve in mobile web and native apps. Mobile app engagement ads only serve in native apps.

Does Facebook’s SDK for iOS access the IDFA?

  • The Facebook SDK includes code to access Apple’s Advertising Identifier (IDFA), but that code is only executed in certain situations.
  • The Facebook SDK for iOS only accesses IDFAs in the following scenarios: 1) if your app serves ads within the app through Facebook’s Audience Network, or 2) if your app logs app installs or other mobile App Events in order to attribute those events to your ad campaigns.
  • If you are not logging App Events with the FBSDKAppEvents class, then the Facebook SDK is not accessing the IDFAs. Additionally, the Facebook SDK does not require AdSupport.framework to be included.
  • If you want to track App Events without collecting IDFA, you can disable IDFA collection within your app dashboard in the advanced setting section.

When creating a mobile app ad, does ad creation start out with a Page or App? Will I need to choose both?

Ad creation starts with the app as selected from the drop down menu in the ad creation flow or you can start with your App Store or Google Play link. You will choose your Page later on in the ad creation process.

What happens if I do not have a Page when I come to create an ad? Can I easily create a Page while creating my ad?

Yes. You will have an oportunity to create a Facebook Page if you do not have one.

Can multiple apps use the same Page as the Page associated with their mobile app ads?

Yes, this is ok. The best practice here will be advertiser specific.

Does Facebook charge me for taps on like, comment, and share on my mobile app ads?

No. Additionally, we only ever charge on a per tap (i.e. click) basis if you choose a Click based pricing option and that tap goes to that platform's app store. We do not charge on a per click basis if you choose an install or impression based pricing option.

I would like to create a Facebook Page right now. Where can I start?

Please visit this web page to learn how to best set up your Facebook Page.

Do I need to connect my Page to my app on the Facebook Developer Site?

There is no need to do this for running mobile app ads. You can choose the Page that will advertise your app at the time of ad creation.

I am not seeing installs reported in Ads Manager but I installed the Facebook SDK

First, go to your Analytics for Apps page: Analytics for Apps.

Then, click "Mobile App Intalls” from the left-hand navigation, and check your last install reported to confirm proper installation of the SDK. Note that this dashboard shows both paid and organic. In addition, you can check the App Dashboard - after choosing your app, there is a time stamp 'Last Mobile Install Reported" for iOS and Android so that you can confirm that an install is being reported.

If the volume of installs reported does not match the true volume or there is no last install reported, it’s likely that the activateApp line of code was not explicitly put into the app.

Using the Facebook SDK (SDK 3.6 or higher), simply add the following to your UIApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive selector:

[FBSettings setDefaultAppID:YOUR_APP_ID];
[FBSDKAppEvents activateApp];

Similarly, for Android, (SDK 3.5 or higher) you will need to add the following to onResume() of each Activity in your app:

com.facebook.AppEventsLogger.activateApp(context, YOUR_APP_ID);

Please note: If you are using an older SDK (iOS SDK 3.0 through 3.5 or Android SDK 3.0 through 3.4, you will instead need to use the publishInstall line of code found in the tutorial. We strongly recommend that you upgrade to the latest SDKs and use activateApp.

Please refer to the measurement step of our mobile app install ads tutorial if you would like to learn more.

When creating an ad, I can't choose my app

Please go to the App Dashboard and select the app you are trying to create an ad for.

If you do not see the app you are trying to advertise, please ensure you are listed as an admin on your app or that your developers have associated your ad account with the app.

First, click "Settings" on the left-hand navigation.

Under the "Basic" tab, you will see the platforms listed for your app. If iOS or Android are missing, please click "Add Platform" and fill out the appropriate details.

If your platform is already listed, please then click "Status & Review" from the left-hand navigation and ensure that "Do you want to make this app and all its live features available to the general public?" is answered "Yes".

Try choosing your app in the Ads Create Tool again, and see if the issue is fixed.

How do I know if my app is properly set up to run ads?

Go to the app ads helper and select the app you are trying to check.

This helper will check which platforms your app is set up for, if anyone has installed your app, and if you've had any installs (paid or organic) in the last 7 days.