FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is App Samurai?
App Samurai Inc. is an ad tech company providing expert knowledge and success-driven mobile growth solutions for any need in the mobile ecosystem. The App Samurai User Acquisition platform is a solution of App Samurai Inc. It is an AI-powered, secure mobile user acquisition platform to help you achieve your performance goals by reaching out to the right users at the right moment through different campaign types.
Where are you located?
App Samurai Inc. HQ is based in San Francisco-CA, USA. We also have branch offices across the globe in Ankara, London, Berlin, and Barcelona.
Who are the App Samurai team?
We have 60+ people who are passionate about removing barriers to mobile advertising for high-growth companies.
What type of campaign models does the App Samurai portfolio have?
Over the span of the past 6 years, user acquisition of mobile apps has evolved, and hence being a technological company, App Samurai has evolved along with it to better serve our clients. Among these models, they can be segmented as below depending on the requirement of the client.
1) User Acquisition
2) Rewarded Engagement
3) On Device Media (OEM)
What is a rewarded engagement campaign?
With the recent developments in the change in user interests, our Rewarded Inventory is a unique portfolio where we are able to reward the users to motivate them to download apps and engage in certain actions. This has the added benefit of engaging users, the inventory being more economic, & uplifts the store ranking of the app. We’ve had various success stories with crypto apps where we’ve placed apps in the top charts of the store, with qualified user engagements & account opens.
What is an OEM pre-install campaign?
For Samsung devices, we’re able to pre-load our client’s apps into Samsung devices before the devices are shipped out to the market by the manufacturers. Upon users purchasing the device for the first time, they will see the client’s app on their home screen.
How is OEM different from other user acquisition campaigns?
OEM campaigns give operator-certified loading guarantees with constant control for fraud and increase brand awareness among competitors and your customers by being on new devices. Direct partnerships with device manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo give customers confidence in advertisers.
What is an OEM recommendation engine model campaign?
On Xiaomi & Oppo devices, with the unique Recommendation feature, based on the users’ journey throughout the day, we’re able to recommend an app to the user at the optimal time to grab their attention & hence lead to a download & a user with high LTV. What’s more is that with the recommendation engine model, app icons will be shown to users on relevant occasions, and you only pay when users open your app.
What is a branding campaign?
We also offer branding campaigns for our clients for their brand awareness-building campaigns beyond the reach of Facebook and Google ads. Through the help of App Samurai’s aggregation with numerous DSPs, SSPs, and publishers, you are also able to employ a branding campaign model with vast targeting capabilities. The branding campaign models mostly employed are CPM, CPC, and CPCV.
At Which GEOs are these campaign models available?
App Samurai is a global company with footprints across the world. Yet, the main areas of expertise are: US, LATAM, CA, UK, EU, MENA, RU, and APAC.
What are the sources that App Samurai use?
App Samurai is a platform integrated with a variety of direct sources ranging from ad networks, DSPs, direct app publishers, offer walls, reward platforms, and more. The algorithm behind the product determines the best combination out this pool of sources and works in real time to optimize the campaigns accordingly under the supervision of the well-informed and experienced customer success team.
What would be the performance metrics?
Every attribution tool is able to post-back ‘in-app events’ in addition to installs; when this feature is activated, our system is able to optimize based on install-to-event metrics to ensure that the only users that are brought in are those who are active within the app. Furthermore, unique KPI’s can be discussed with your Account Manager.
What reporting mechanisms are there on App Samurai services?
On the App Samurai Dashboard, you can view macro-level data on the ‘Campaign Report’ page, similar to that which you would see on an MMP; for further reporting, you may consult with a dedicated Account Manager.
What does ROAS mean?
Return on Ad Spend looks at your spending on an ad platform and compares it with the value brought in via the new users’ spending in your app.
What would be the optimal bid for my campaign?
The optimal bid for a campaign is subjected to a variety of variables, ranging from the campaign’s GEO, the app’s ASO, brand strength, the competition during the time of the campaign, the creatives, and CTAs being used, and so on. For more information on how to place bids for your campaign(s), please feel free to reach out to an Account Manager who will assist you after having looked at your marketing strategies and goals.
What is an MMP?
A Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) is an independent third party, that assists mobile app owners to measure the performance of their paid marketing activities across different channels. Having an MMP implemented is an absolute must, so as maintain transparency for both the advertiser & the publisher, track all the data regarding the impressions, clicks, installs & post-install events generated from a certain source for reporting & optimizing in real time.
What are the major MMPs in the market?
Adjust, Appsflyer, Kochava, Branch, & Singular are some of the most commonly used MMPs in the market.
Is App Samurai integrated with all MMPs?
Yes, App Samurai is integrated with all major MMPs in the market, and therefore you may start your campaigns on App Samurai platform on day 1 without any hassle.
What is Mobile Ad Fraud?
Deliberate deception of attribution methodologies in order to inflate ad performance metrics for monetary gain.
What are the different types of Mobile Ad Fraud?
Fake installs can be generated by
– Device Farms
– Bots/Botnets
– Emulators
Attribution of real users can be stolen by
– Click spamming
– Click injection
MMPs can be hacked by
– SDK Spoofing
What is click spamming?
Click spamming is an attribution fraud where a network simulates a number of fake clicks from real devices in hopes of getting the attribution of an organic install. Most of the installs have long click-to-install times. Since the installs are actually organic, ad budget is wasted on highly engaged legitimate users, which would have been acquired organically.
What is click injection?
Click injection is an attribution fraud that abuses the broadcast feature of Android OS. It occurs when a fraudulent app on a device listens to other app installs and creates fake clicks while the install is in progress. It results in claiming the attribution of that install from other channels by providing the last click. It can be detected by checking the click timestamp with Google Play Install Referrer times (store landing and install begin timestamps). Generally click-to-install times are unrealistically short.
What is SDK spoofing?
SDK Spoofing is an advanced fraud type where other parties reverse-engineer the communication between MMP’s server and MMP’s SDK in the app. They can manipulate any number on the MMP dashboard by pinging the MMP from their servers without even a real device.
What is device farming?
Clicks and installs can be fabricated by device farms (usually with manual labor) or by bots/emulators (for a more automated and high volume of fake traffic). There is no real user with these frauds, and revenue events are usually nonexistent.
What are the existing tools for fraud prevention & protection?
Some of the well-known third-party fraud prevention tools are Interceptd, mFilterit & Fraudscore. In addition to it, the MMP tools often have a fraud solution of their own, similar to Appsflyer’s P360 & Adjust’s Fraud Prevention Suite.
What protection & prevention mechanisms are there available in App Samurai platform?
AppSamurai’s in-house fraud prevention & detection engine monitors all the data at a click level, meaning if a click is fraudulent via means of VPN, hosting provider, etc., it is blocked in real time to ensure that the end conversion user is a valid install.
What would be the minimum commitment on a budget you would need to start a campaign on App Samurai platform?
The minimum commitment of budget has been set to ensure that you would provide your campaign with enough resources to see whether it performs well on App Samurai platform sources. In light of that, the minimum budget required for the platform is $1000.
What are the available and accepted payment methods?
Stripe, PayPal, Payoneer, and Bill.com are all accepted payment methods.
What does organic uplift mean?
The “organic multiplier,” or “organic uplift,” is a value representing the observed correlation between organic and non-organic installs. It is a fundamental concept in user acquisition (UA) measuring how many additional organic users will install the app as a result of paid activity.
What does App Store Optimization mean? Why is it important?
The primary goal of App Store Optimization is to increase downloads and the number of loyal users. The first step of maximizing your downloads is to make your app easily discoverable by the right users.
Does App Samurai provide ASO services?
App Samurai does provide recommendation services for ASO. Please feel free to reach out to an Account Manager who can help you with your ASO needs.
What types of creatives are there that you can use for a User Acquisition campaign?
App Samurai supports all major creative forms such as banners, interstitials, videos, GIFs, playable ads, and icons. Please feel free to reach out to an Account Manager to discuss which creatives strategy to follow for your campaign.
Why are creatives and the CTAs on the creatives important for the success of your campaign?
A more prominent Call to Action (CTA) within a creative will always attract the right customer by grabbing their attention and offering them direction as to how to proceed. Examples include, Install Now/Buy Now/Subscribe Now/Open An Account.
Questions?
Drop us a line.