Apple has made the SKAd Network 4.0 developer documentation available along with iOS 16.1. This means that Apple would provide the new 4.0 information if all parties involved support SKAN 4.0 and the advertisement is displayed on a device running iOS 16.1 or later.

Many people had some questions about the actual functionality of the new postbacks this version was revealed after hearing Apple's original presentation at the WWDC conference in June. All the information that has been lacking will be covered in this post. If you need clarification about the new version, you can read the article we posted that goes into great depth.

Values for Hierarchical Conversion

The hierarchical conversion values were the key talking point of this new version. The new coarse-grained conversion value, along with it, shares certain information at a lower threshold than the fine-grained conversion value. Instead of the one window present in versions 3.0 and before, the postbacks window of attribution was entirely redesigned to include three distinct windows ranging from 0 to 2 days, 3 to 7 days, and 8 to 35 days. With this new feature, marketers can get more information about post-install activities, such as ROAS and user LTV.

The delay timer of each window was the subject of the main query. The questions that everyone had about the implementation can now be resolved with the publication of the documentation.

The various postbacks that were registered during the window will be saved and sent as indicated below, with a delay of 24-48 hours for the first postback and 24-144 hours for the second and third.

Apple has however included a new technique to lock conversion values and speed up postbacks. The random delay to send the postback will be initialized before the conversion window closes if a conversion value declared with that method exists and is present. You can choose to apply this technique in any of the conversion windows because it is independent of the various windows.

With this functionality, instead of having to wait a minimum of 72 hours without the method implemented, advertisers will be able to get the install postback after 24 hours if everything is configured properly. With the help of the Flexible Mapping tool and the resulting reduction in delays, Targetoo will be able to optimize the campaigns more quickly.

Web to application

Support for web-to-app campaigns is among SKAd Network 4.0's most notable new features. Apple will only permit click-through credit to be given for clicks made exclusively through the Safari browser. This provides an answer to the query on the availability of web to application in all browsers: currently, just Safari.

The browser targeting tool will enable Targetoo to design precise web-to-app campaigns that will focus on the ideal traffic required to receive credit from Apple.

Source identifiers in a hierarchy

The previous campaign identifier was updated and is now known as the source identifier in SKAN 4.0. This value will now be a four-digit number that can be used to map various pieces of information that are important for understanding how well the campaigns are performing, such as the various creatives or the locations of the campaigns. Like the other features, this feature will send the information based on how anonymous the crowd is. Some unspecified daily install threshold must be met in order to receive the additional digits, which total four.

In addition to the data, Targetoo can already report because of the implemented tools, this new identifier will provide even more data granularity for advertisers. More information about the campaign can help with optimization.

Targetoo is already making preparations to support SKAd Network 4.0. To maximize traffic and take the lead in the SKAN market, the company has always been an early adopter of new features. We are able to optimize our campaigns and see gradual performance improvements thanks to our Flexible Mapping Tool and SKAd Network algorithm.

If you want to know more about SKAd 4.0 and Targetoo’s Flexible Mapping solution, please contact us.