What is attribution?

Mobile attribution is the science of matching two data points, such as attributing ad spend to user engagement or installs based on certain variables. Attribution creates an understanding of what happens when a user interacts with a mobile ad. By showing marketers which campaigns lead to which actions, attribution solutions like mobile measurement partners (MMPs) enable smart, data-driven advertising and optimization. 

Successful mobile app attribution covers the entirety of the conversion funnel, not just app download attribution. It identifies and reports whether a user reacts upon seeing an advertisement, whether a user installs an app after seeing an ad, and how a user behaves after installing the app. 

While mobile app tracking helps advertisers and marketers understand individual users, it can also help marketers identify relevant cohorts, identify groups that do (or don’t) respond to creatives, and determine how they behave in-app by tracking key events.

The below example demonstrates how mobile attribution works, with AppLovin as the example ad network via which an ad was displayed.

Attribution figures out the number of ad dollars spent on the number of conversions gained, and is important to determining the success of advertising campaigns. Accurate attribution gives advertisers, partners, and app developers a clear view of which channels and campaigns are delivering results. It shows how much is being spent, what’s driving conversions, and where returns are coming from—enabling smarter, more strategic decisions.

In mobile marketing, attribution is essential for optimizing everything from ad spend and creative performance to user experience and retention. By tracking user behavior and in-app events, marketers can fine-tune campaigns and better understand how paid activity influences user actions.

Attribution also underpins the entire mobile ad ecosystem, from pricing ad space to evaluating performance. Whether it's measuring installs or post-install events, knowing where users come from and how they engage is key to building a data-driven, high-impact strategy.

Attribution can be a complex topic, complete with many related concepts and subtopics that help to further explain how user interactions are measured and credited in mobile marketing. These are some of the common terms you might come across when learning about attribution, along with a brief explanation of what each one means.

• View-through attribution (VTA):This refers to when a conversion is credited (either partly or completely) to an ad that was viewed but not clicked on before the user converted.
• Attribution window: A specific time period during which a user's action (like a click or view) can be credited for a resulting conversion.
• Reattribution: The process of assigning credit to a new campaign or source after a previously engaged user returns and converts again.
• Reattribution window: A set time frame in which a previously attributed user can be reattributed to a new campaign after becoming inactive.
• Multi-touch attribution: A model that assigns credit to multiple marketing touchpoints that influenced the user along their path to conversion.
• Last-touch attribution: A method where 100% of the credit for a conversion goes to the final marketing interaction before the conversion.
• Attribution model: A rule or set of rules that determine how credit for conversions is distributed across various marketing touchpoints.
• Temporary attribution: A provisional assignment of credit based on initial signals, which may be updated as more data becomes available.
• Biased attribution: A skewed or inaccurate assignment of conversion credit due to flawed data, limited visibility, or predefined preferences.
• Fractional attribution: A model where conversion credit is divided proportionally among several touchpoints based on their influence.

The way marketers approach attribution has changed dramatically in response to evolving privacy regulations and platform policies. With the enforcement of frameworks like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and Google’s upcoming Privacy Sandbox on Android, traditional methods of user-level tracking have become less reliable or even unavailable. As a result, marketers are adapting to aggregate-level data and privacy-first attribution solutions like SKAdNetwork (SKAN). These shifts have made attribution more complex as brands work to understand performance while respecting user privacy.

In addition to platform-level changes, global privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are also shaping how attribution can be performed. These laws emphasize user consent, data minimization, and transparency, limiting the ability to track device IDs across apps and websites without explicit permission. As a result, marketers must now balance performance measurement with compliance, often relying on aggregated data and privacy-safe attribution methods.

In this evolving landscape, partnering with an MMP that can navigate privacy restrictions and support compliant, privacy-first attribution is essential for maintaining accurate and effective campaign measurement.

Attribution is at the heart of everything we do at Adjust. As mobile marketing and measurement grows more complex, our focus remains on empowering marketers with smarter, faster, and privacy-conscious insights at every step of the user journey. That’s why we’ve built a next-generation attribution system that’s not only easy to integrate, but also designed for long-term scalability in the privacy-first era.

These next-generation technologies, including AI, are becoming essential—not optional—for staying competitive. In addition to solutions for incrementality, marketing mix modeling (MMM), and predictive analytics, we’re also embracing this shift with solutions like Adjust Growth Copilot, our AI-powered natural language chat assistant for clients. 

With Adjust, you can measure media performance across every channel—whether it’s based on clicks, impressions, or emerging touchpoints. Think mobile, web-to-app, connected TV (CTV), PC, console, and beyond. Our system ensures you always know which campaigns are driving results, complete with rich contextual data like creative performance, geo, and engagement behavior. Attribution happens in real time, so you can act quickly and optimize with confidence.

Thanks to our fully dynamic partner setup, there’s no need for bulky SDKs or manual link management. You can launch campaigns directly from the Adjust dashboard and start tracking across your entire partner ecosystem instantly. Curious about who we integrate with? Explore our full list of global technology partners.

Whether you're just starting out or scaling your user acquisition (UA), Adjust’s attribution solution is built to adapt. For a deeper dive into attribution, download your copy of our report: The essentials of mobile app attribution, or request a demo today to see hands-on how we can grow your app business.