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Assisted Install

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Occurs when a user interacts with multiple marketing touchpoints (e.g., ads, emails, social posts) before finally installing an app. Unlike Last-Click Attribution (which credits only the final touchpoint), assisted installs recognize the contribution of earlier engagements in the user journey.

How Assisted Installs Work in Mobile Attribution

User journeys are rarely a straight line. Before installing an app, a user might interact with multiple touchpoints across different networks over several days.

Imagine this typical user journey for a mobile game:

  1. Monday: The user sees a video ad on TikTok (Impression).

  2. Wednesday: The user clicks a Google Search ad but doesn’t download the app (Click).

  3. Friday: The user clicks a retargeting banner on a blog and finally downloads the game (Last Click).

In this scenario, the retargeting banner receives the primary attribution for the install. TikTok and Google Search receive credit for an Assisted Install.

Why Tracking Assisted Installs Matters

For mobile marketers and user acquisition (UA) managers, relying solely on last-click metrics creates a blind spot. Tracking assisted installs provides several critical advantages:

  • Accurate Budget Allocation: If you only reward the final click, you might cut funding to the very ads that introduce users to your app. Measuring assists proves the ROI of awareness campaigns.

  • Understanding Channel Roles: Some networks are «closers» (retargeting networks), while others are «introducers» (social media video ads). Assisted install data tells you exactly what role each network plays in your ecosystem.

  • Preventing Ad Fraud: If a network consistently claims last-click attribution but rarely appears as an assist in other journeys, it may be utilizing click-spamming or organic hijacking tactics.

How Affise MMP Handles Assisted Installs

The Affise Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) utilizes a deterministic waterfall system to track the complete user journey and ensure auxiliary networks are properly credited.

Here is how Affise handles the data mapping for multi-interaction attribution:

  • Primary Attribution: Affise MMP fully defines one primary media source for each installation, prioritizing deterministic clicks with matching device IDs (or referrers) over impressions.

  • Installation Participants: If an auxiliary network interacted with the user before the installation and that interaction fell within the designated lookback window (e.g., 7 days for clicks, 24 hours for impressions), it is logged as an Assisted Install.

  • Transparent Reporting: Auxiliary networks are shown as «installation participants» in the Affise dashboard, allowing marketers to analyze overlap and multi-channel influence seamlessly.