More app stores, clearer measurement: Expanded store detection and verification

Apps are increasingly distributed across multiple storefronts within the same platform. Alongside Google Play and Apple’s App Store, stores such as Huawei AppGallery, Xiaomi GetApps, Samsung Galaxy Store, and Vivo Appstore form an important part of today’s app distribution ecosystem.

Knowing that an install happened on Android does not necessarily tell you which store it came from. If your app is distributed through several storefronts, that distinction matters when analyzing campaign performance and understanding how users are acquiring your app.

Adjust now supports expanded store detection and verification across a wider range of app stores, giving marketers more precise visibility into where installs originate. This helps measurement keep pace as publishers broaden their distribution options.

Platform and OS remain useful ways to understand the environment in which an app is running. But as multiple stores operate within the same platform, they do not always tell you enough about how an app was distributed.

Store Type is now the primary dimension for identifying where an app is distributed and where an install originated, while platform and OS name continue to provide context about the device environment. Store naming has also been standardized, with support for multiple store types within the same platform. This gives marketers a clearer way to measure acquisition according to how their apps are actually distributed.

With expanded store detection and verification, marketers can:

• Measure performance by app store: Analyze campaign performance at the store level, rather than relying on platform or OS alone.
• Manage multiple stores within a single Adjust app: Add additional third-party stores to an app’s platform settings while maintaining store-level visibility.
• Discover new store traffic: AppView flags when installs are coming from a store that has not yet been configured, with a direct route to add it to the app setup.
• Redirect users to the right store: Use improved store detection to direct users to the appropriate storefront across a wider range of supported stores.
• Verify store-specific installs: Validate whether installs originated from the intended store, with verification configuration available for Google Play, Google Play (TV), Google Play (PC), Huawei AppGallery, Xiaomi GetApps, Samsung Galaxy Store, Vivo Appstore, Apple App Store, and Apple App Store (TV).
• Use store-level data across your workflows: Newly detected stores are automatically reflected in reporting and raw data, while verification results are also available through callbacks and CSV exports.

On platforms with multiple app stores, Adjust uses available signals to identify the store an install originated from. On Android, for example, this can include the store reported by the operating system or store information configured through the SDK or S2S integration.

If Adjust cannot determine a specific store, advertisers can choose to use the default store configured for that operating system as a fallback, or disable fallback so the install is reported as unknown.

Store verification provides an additional check on the detected store. Depending on the store, Adjust uses different verification methods to independently confirm where an install originated. Verification is recorded separately from Store Type, so marketers can see both the store identified for an install and whether it was independently verified.

Store information can also be used in Conversion Rules, with Store Rule conditions supporting newly recognized stores and their verification results.

To learn more about setting up store detection and verification, visit the Adjust Help Center. 

To learn more about how Adjust can help grow your app business, reach out to your contact person, sign up for free, or request a demo today.