What are campaigns, ad groups and keywords?
Apple Ads has three layers, a bit like folders inside folders.
- Campaign. Where you set a budget and choose the countries where your ads run.
- Ad group. Inside a campaign. Where you choose keywords, set bids and pick which ad to show.
- Keyword. “A relevant word or term someone may use when searching for an app like yours”. You bid on keywords.
A search term is different. It is what someone actually typed into the App Store. One keyword can match many search terms, and the Search Terms tab shows which ones matched.
Example, with made-up round numbers
A made-up habit tracker app. One campaign for the US. Inside it, an ad group called “Category” with the keywords “habit tracker” and “daily habits”. Someone searches “habit tracking app”, and that search term may match the keyword “habit tracker”.
What are the four campaign types?
Apple recommends separating campaigns by keyword theme, and starting with four types: brand, category, competitor and discovery. Each theme behaves differently, so keeping them apart lets you see what each one costs and set bids to match.
| Type | Who it reaches | Match type | Why it exists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | People searching for your app or company name. | Exact | Keeps your own name yours. Usually cheap, but only as big as the number of people who search for you. |
| Category | Searches that describe what your app does, like its category or genre. | Exact | Reaches people who want an app like yours but don't know your name yet. |
| Competitor | Searches for apps similar to yours. | Exact | Reaches people already looking at a rival. The least certain of the four. |
| Discovery | A wide audience, to find new searches worth adding. | Broad, plus Search Match | Finds the searches you didn't think of, so the other three can bid on them. |
For brand, category and competitor, the advice is to use exact match, keep Search Match off, and put your highest bids on your best keywords. Discovery gets two ad groups: one with all your other keywords set to broad match, and one with no keywords and Search Match on.
If a campaign needs its own budget, for example one per country, the same four themes can be four ad groups inside one campaign.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
Under about $150 a month, use one campaign with themed ad groups instead of four campaigns. Budgets live on the campaign, and four campaigns that small would each get so little that one tap could use up a whole day. The numbers are in how much to spend when you start.
Why start without a competitor campaign?
Apple does suggest bidding on other apps’ names: “Consider adding other popular brand names that provide services similar to yours”. The question is when.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
A new app starts with three of the four, and adds competitors later.
- Category, exact match, on 5 to 15 searches that describe your app.
- Discovery, with a Search Match ad group, to find searches you missed.
- Brand at a low bid, so it’s ready. A new app has few people searching its name, so expect it to spend almost nothing at first.
- Competitor only once category has a known cost per download. Until then there is nothing to compare it against, and it is the least certain way to spend a small budget.
Whether to bid on your own name is its own question, covered in should you bid on your own app’s name.
What is the difference between exact match and broad match?
A match type decides how closely a search has to match your keyword before your ad can show. There are two.
- Broad match is the default for new keywords. It shows your ad for related searches too, which can include the names of similar products and services. It saves time, but it may not suit every campaign.
- Exact match shows your ad for that search and close variants, such as spelling mistakes, words in a different order and translations. You may get fewer impressions (times your ad is shown), but a higher share of the people who see it may tap and download.
In Apple Ads you mark a keyword as exact by putting it in brackets, like [habit tracker]. You can’t change a keyword’s match type after adding it. You pause it and add it again.
What is Search Match?
Search Match lets Apple match your ad to searches without you listing every keyword. It uses your App Store listing, information about similar apps in your genre, and other search data. It is on by default in campaigns where you set your own bids, and required in automatic Maximize Conversions campaigns.
Turn it on in a campaign or ad group meant for finding keywords, then move the searches that work into your brand, category or competitor campaigns. Because it reads your App Store listing, a change to your app’s title or description can take up to two hours to show in your ad.
More on automatic bidding in manual bids or Maximize Conversions.
What are negative keywords?
A negative keyword stops your ad from showing for a search. A good one is related to your keywords but shows that the person wants something your app doesn’t offer. For example, a women’s fitness app might add “men’s fitness”. You can also add a search that gets taps but no downloads.
- Exact negatives are the default. They block only that exact search, not close variants or other word orders.
- Broad negatives block any search that contains all the words, in any order.
One step people miss: in your discovery campaign, add every keyword from your other three campaigns as an exact negative. Otherwise discovery bids on the same searches you are already bidding on elsewhere.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
Start with exact negatives. A broad negative on a useful word can quietly shut off a whole group of good searches. Use broad only for a word that is wrong for your app in any order.
What are default ads and custom product pages?
You don’t write the ad. Apple builds a default ad from the screenshots and app previews on your App Store product page, and runs it in any ad group without another ad.
A custom product page is another version of your App Store page, with different screenshots, videos and text, that you build in App Store Connect. You can make up to 70, and use one as the ad in an ad group. Each ad group can have one active custom ad.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
Start with the default ad. Later, make one custom page per theme that has its own reason to download, not one per keyword, once that theme gets enough impressions to tell if it helped.
What should I leave alone in week one?
Most early mistakes come from changing things before the numbers mean anything.
- Big changes in the first days. Data can take 24 to 48 hours to show, so let a new campaign run for several days before major changes.
- Bids, over and over. Bid changes need time to take effect.
- Audience settings. They start at “Reach All Eligible Users”, and narrowing them can cut how often your ad shows. Age and gender settings also stop Apple from reporting which ads led to downloads.
- A long keyword list. Focus on the most relevant keywords rather than every possible one.
- Automatic bidding, if you use it. Give it at least two weeks before changing its target cost.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
Don’t judge a keyword on its last 7 days of downloads, because some are still coming in. Don’t raise a budget the campaign isn’t spending. If it isn’t using what it has, more budget changes nothing.
Questions
How many Apple Ads campaigns should I start with?
Apple suggests four types: brand, category, competitor and discovery. AdSitter’s rule of thumb for a small budget is fewer: one campaign with themed ad groups under about $150 a month, and no competitor campaign until category has a known cost per download.
Should I turn Search Match off?
In brand, category and competitor campaigns, yes. Apple recommends keeping it on only in a discovery campaign or ad group, where its job is to find new searches.
Can I change a keyword from broad match to exact match?
Not once it’s added. Pause the keyword and add it again with the match type you want.
What is the difference between a keyword and a search term?
A keyword is what you bid on. A search term is what someone actually typed. The Search Terms tab shows which search terms matched your keywords.
Do I have to write or design an ad?
No. Apple builds a default ad from the screenshots and previews on your App Store page. Custom product pages are optional.
Sources
Facts about how Apple Ads works come from Apple’s own pages, listed below. We read them on . Apple changes them, so check the page itself before a big decision. Anything marked as AdSitter’s rule of thumb is our own judgment, not Apple’s.
- Campaign structure best practices ads.apple.com
- Structure campaigns ads.apple.com
- Glossary ads.apple.com
- Keywords best practices ads.apple.com
- Understand keyword match types ads.apple.com
- Understand Search Match ads.apple.com
- Use negative keywords ads.apple.com
- Create ad variations ads.apple.com
- Tips for solving performance issues ads.apple.com
- Set and adjust bids ads.apple.com
- Use Maximize Conversions ads.apple.com
- Measuring ad performance on the App Store ads.apple.com
More guides
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