How to run Apple Search Ads for your Shopify store

While the original version of Search Ads was released in the United States in October 2016, the concept behind the newer "Basic" solution was to provide developers with an alternative – and easier – way of contacting potential clients. With Apple giving app publishers 100 USD credit to try their Search Ads, things are easier now.

Search Ads was initially intended to allow developers to target users based on their keyword searches, as well as other variables such as location, gender, and whether or not they had previously installed the app. When people clicked on such personalized advertising, developers would be paid.

It is now easier to build up campaigns with the release of Search Ads Basic.

Developers basically need to publish their app to the Apple App Store and it will do its job: For your app to be marketed, the budget for the campaign, and the amount you wish to pay per install. Apple helps by suggesting the max developers should pay using historical data. Developers are then only charged for each successful download, not clicks.

How to promote an app with Apple Search Ads Basic

Get started in just a few simple steps

1. Choose the app you want to promote.

From the menu on your account dashboard, choose the app you want to promote. You’ll be given the option to promote only the apps associated with your linked App Store Connect account(s). If you’d like to promote more than one of your apps, you can do so from your dashboard later. You can promote up to 50 apps.

2. Choose countries and regions.

After you choose an app to promote, you can choose to either run your promotion in all the countries and regions where it’s available, or select specific countries and regions. If you promote in all countries and regions where your app is eligible, you’ll automatically be added to new markets as they become available. Check Apple Search Ads’ list of available countries here.

App Store in France

In compliance with the French law known as the Sapin Law, which intends to make the business of media buying more transparent, only the advertiser who owns both the app and the Apple Search Ads account can promote an app on the App Store in France.

Learn more about Apple Search Ads and the Sapin Law

3. Add your monthly budget.

This budget represents the most you want to spend to promote your app every calendar month and is a single budget across all the countries and regions where your app promotion will run. The maximum monthly budget for Apple Search Ads Basic is $10,000 (U.S.) per app, per month. We’ll maximize the number of installs up to your maximum cost-per-install (max CPI) and the total amount you enter for your budget.

4. Define your maximum cost-per-install (max CPI).

We suggest a max CPI based on what we know about your app and what other developers are willing to pay to reach the same users. You can accept this amount or set your own. However, we recommend using our suggested max CPI to increase the likelihood that your ad is the one shown for relevant user searches.

Note that if you added a valid payment method to your account when you signed up for Apple Search Ads, your app promotion will start running as soon as you create it. If you create an app promotion before adding a payment method, your ad will automatically start running when a valid payment method is added to your account.

Although the App Store was updated with the release of iOS 11 to promote discoverability, search is still a popular way for customers to learn about new apps. According to Apple, over 70% of App Store visitors use search to find apps, and 65 percent of all downloads come directly from an App Store search.

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Source: Apple Search Ads, Tech Crunch