App campaigns for engagement help you to reconnect with your existing app users by encouraging them to take specific actions within your app. For example, checking in for a flight, completing a purchase, or exploring new content. These ads leverage deep links that direct users to a specific page or section within your mobile app, rather than just the app's homepage. People who use your app are then able to more easily find what they’re looking for and complete desired actions.
On this page
- Benefits of using deep links in App campaigns for engagement
- How App campaigns for engagement use deep links
- When to use App campaigns for engagement and deep links
- Supported deep link types for App campaigns for engagement
- When a user without your app views the ad
- Tools to help you set up and test deep links
- FAQs
- Next steps
Benefits of using deep links in App campaigns for engagement
- Improves user experience: Take users directly to the specific product, offer, or page featured in your ad. This reduces friction and helps users complete their desired action more easily.
- Increases conversion rates: By streamlining the user journey, deep links make it more likely for users to convert.
- Drives valuable in-app actions: Effectively guide your loyal app users to perform actions that matter most to your business.
- Optimizes campaign performance: When combined with in-app conversion tracking and appropriate bidding strategies, deep links can significantly improve the return on investment (ROI) of your App campaigns for engagement.
How App campaigns for engagement use deep links
App campaigns for engagement are tailored for users who already have your app installed. Here's how they work with deep links:
- Ad appearance: These ads often include your app icon and may feature an "Installed" badge, which signals users that the ad is for an app they already possess.
- Customized messaging: You'll provide a few lines of descriptive text and customize the text of a button designed to take users directly into your app.
- Deep link destination: Instead of a standard destination URL used for websites, you'll provide a deep link. This deep link, or app URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), specifies the exact location within your app where users will be directed when they click your ad.
- Conversion tracking: For optimal performance and measurement, it's critical to implement in-app conversion tracking and bid towards those in-app conversions in your Google Ads campaign setup.
When to use App campaigns for engagement and deep links
Here are a few examples of how deep links can be used effectively in App campaigns for engagement:
- Abandoned cart recovery: If a user added items to their cart but didn't complete the purchase, an ad can deep link them directly back to their populated cart to encourage completion.
- Promoting new features or content: Announce a new feature or content category within your app and deep link users directly to it for exploration.
- Special offers or sales: Advertise a limited-time sale on specific products and use deep links to take users to the sale page or relevant product category.
- Subscription renewal or upsell: Remind users about an expiring subscription and deep link them to the renewal page, or offer an upgrade and link to the upsell options.
- Completing a profile or action: Encourage users to complete their profile or take another key setup action by deep linking them to the relevant settings page.
Supported deep link types for App campaigns for engagement
It's important to use deep link types that are supported and work effectively with Google Ads.
| Deep link type | OS Compatibility | Supports App campaigns for engagement? | Description and key considerations |
| App links | Android | Yes (Recommended) | Industry standard for Android. Uses your existing HTTP/S web URLs to open corresponding content in your Android app. Requires website association. If the app isn't installed, the user is typically taken to your mobile website. |
| Universal links | iOS | Yes (Recommended) | Industry standard for iOS. Uses your existing HTTP/S web URLs to open corresponding content in your iOS app. Requires website association. If the app isn't installed, the user is typically taken to your mobile website. |
| Custom schemes | Android, iOS | Yes (Allowed) | Custom URIs such as, “yourapp://path/to/content” can link to any in-app content. Note: If the app isn't installed, custom schemes will lead to an error page (no automatic fallback to a website). They can also be less secure. Use if App Links or Universal Links are not feasible for specific App campaigns for engagement use cases. |
| App Attribution Partner (AAP) links, such as Branch or AppsFlyer OneLink | Android, iOS | No (Not supported) | Deep linking solutions from third-party App Attribution Partners often involve redirects, which are not supported as final URLs in Google Ads due to policy and user experience concerns. |
| Redirects | Android, iOS | No (Not supported) | URLs that redirect to another URL are generally not allowed as the final destination in Google Ads. This is to ensure user safety and a clear user experience, as redirects can sometimes be used for phishing or malware. |
| Firebase Dynamic Links | Android, iOS |
No (Not supported) |
While Firebase Dynamic Links offer flexibility for various use cases (like sharing and onboarding), they are not supported for use as the primary deep link in Google Ads due to their reliance on redirects and other mechanisms that conflict with ad policies. |
When a user without your app views the ad
App campaigns for engagement are intended for users who already have your app installed. However, sometimes targeting data may not be perfectly up-to-date. For example, a user may have recently uninstalled your app. If someone who doesn’t have your app installed views your App campaigns for engagement ad, the ad will typically appear as an app install ad with an "Install" button that directs users to the appropriate app store. You can track how frequently people downloaded your app as a result of these instances in your conversion reports.
Tools to help you set up and test deep links
Google provides you with several tools to assist you and your developers with deep link implementation and validation:
For prioritization and validation (Google Ads)
- Deep link impact calculator: Helps identify web URLs that are good candidates for deep linking and estimates the potential conversion uplift from implementing them. Learn more about How to use the Deep link impact calculator .
- Deep link validator: Allows you to check if your App Links (for your entire Android app) or Universal Links (for specific iOS URLs) are configured correctly. It provides a report on any issues found and how to fix them. Learn more about How to use the Deep link validator .
For implementation (Developer platforms)
- Google Play Console (Deep links page): For Android apps, developers can get an overview of their deep link setup, find guidance on fixing issues, and discover URLs that should be implemented as deep links. It also offers "Deep Link Patching," which allows developers to make some ad-hoc fixes to Android App Links directly in the Play Console without needing a new app release (for the current app version). Learn more about how to Manage deep linking on Google Play Console .
- Android Studio (App Links Assistant): A plugin within Android Studio that helps developers create, test, and manage Android App Links. Learn more About the App Links Assistant in Android Studio .
- Flutter: Google’s open-source UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled applications for mobile (Android and iOS), web, and desktop from a single codebase. Learn more About integrating deep links with Flutter .
- Google Analytics: Linking your Google Ads account with your Google Analytics properties will allow your developers to identify broken deep links and new opportunities for deep linking from within Google Analytics. Learn more About integrating deep links with Google Analytics .
FAQs
How does implementing deep links affect my website’s search engine optimization (SEO)?
We already use a third-party tool like Branch.io or AppsFlyer. Do we have to switch?
What if our app content doesn't perfectly match our website?
What happens if our app requires a user to log in?
What happens if a user clicks an ad but doesn't have my app installed?
Next steps
Use this guide to pitch deep linking implementation to your developer team.
Go to the Deep linking: A developer’s guide
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Follow the guided workflow to identify, fix, and launch your deep links in campaigns.
Learn how to Set up deep linking
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Identify missed conversion opportunities by highlighting web URLs that need deep linking.
Learn more About the Deep link impact calculator
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Generate insights from deep link impact calculator to identify conversion gaps in your App campaigns.
Learn How to use the Deep link impact calculator
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Know how the Deep link validator helps identify and fix configuration issues on your Android and iOS deep links.
Learn more About the Deep link validator
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Conduct comprehensive validations of your deep links across Android and iOS platforms.
Learn How to use the Deep link validator
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Understand how deep linking performance is measured and attributed within Google Ads.Learn How deep linking performance is measured.
