We’re struggling attributing ad installs to our managed Expo app. Things like the Facebook Pixel, Snap Pixel, Twitter SDK, Google Ads SDK all require an ejected app (afaik). So we started looking at MMPs to see if any of them played nicely with Expo.
It looks like Expo has alpha support for Branch.io that works with iOS only. Are there any other services besides Branch that are supported?
How do folks handle the problem of ad attribution today in their managed apps?
Hi! You actually don’t need to eject to use Expo’s Admob API, and also the Facebook Ads API
I’m not too familiar with MMPs, but you might be able to implement Amplitude to achieve what (I think) you’re looking for, although it might not be as easy as what you originally pictured. Again, not exactly sure what you’re looking for so I could be wrong here.
Thanks for the response, @charliecruzan. I swear you’re the oil that makes these forums run.
I’ll rephrase the problem: We buy ads to drive app installs. Typically these ad campaigns are automatically optimized by the ad platform using successful installs as the optimization target. The SDKs of these platforms are not compatible with Expo. At the very least, even if we can’t deliver install data back to the ad platform for purposes of optimization, we’d like to have access to this information ourselves so we have something to base ad buying decisions off of. Right now we’re basically flying blind.
We currently use Amplitude to track user behavior inside our app, including installs & registrations. Perhaps when a user hits the app the first time there’s some sort of referrer information attached to them? If that’s the case we could use Amplitude to pick it up.
Thank you for mentioning the Admob and Facebook APIs but I believe those are only for serving ads within an app, not tracking user behavior after an ad interaction.
that’s great to hear! Glad you find the forums helpful, that’s our goal!
Okay, I think I’ve got a better handle on what you’re looking for now. Unfortunately, afaik, there’s nothing in Expo that can register where an app was installed from (like, say, from a certain ad). To be fair, I’m not too familiar with Amplitude Analytics, so that may be possible with that API, I just haven’t seen that done, myself.
Sidenote- I would’ve imagined this information would come more from the ads that are being served, rather than from the endpoint (being your app), but I’m not sure.Worth a shot to look into it
Thank you for mentioning the Admob and Facebook APIs but I believe those are only for serving ads within an app, not tracking user behavior after an ad interaction.
Yup, you’re spot on there. So those aren’t what you’re looking for, sorry about that
Cool, thanks for the rundown. I’ll see if there’s a cranny of Amplitude I haven’t found yet.
I would’ve imagined this information would come more from the ads that are being served, rather than from the endpoint (being your app), but I’m not sure.Worth a shot to look into it
Unfortunately the only ad platforms that have been able to offer install insight are Google (for Play installs), Apple (for App Store installs), and Facebook (if you happen to be using Facebook auth in your app). It’s great that it’s something, but even piecing it together it’s really not cohesive enough to have much confidence in the ad ROI. (Things like taps/views across ad platforms are available but the conversion rate between that and an install/active user is an unknown.)
That’s too bad, definitely would be ideal to be able to get all that data in one place (like, say, in Expo), but I’m not the best person to ask if that’s possible. If there isn’t a feature request already for it, I’d definitely open one
@nsdub- good news for you! We’re looking into the prospect of adding an installation referrer to the Expo SDK. I don’t have a timeline for you since it’s still up in the air, but wanted to let you know that it’s a possibility
That’s awesome to hear it’s something y’all are discussing! I knew today was going to be a lucky day…
If the idea picks up steam or if folks want to discuss use cases, I’m happy to contribute opinions.
I’d check out Adjust and Appsflyer. They have pretty good tracking for installs. Not sure they have a native package to Expo but you could always build your own 
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