This guide has seven sections:

1. Plan Your Setup: What is Singular and what can it do for you?
2. Set up Singular: The minimum integration requirements to start. This section is mandatory.
3. Start with SKAdNetwork: Set up a solution for Apple's SKAdNetwork. Skip if you do not target iOS 14+.
4. Create Tracking Links: Integrate with other ad partners, track self-managed channels, and use deep linking. Skip if you only use Facebook Ads / Google Adwords / Apple Search Ads.
5. Run Reports: Get Singular's powerful reports and insights.
6. Export your Data: Set up automatic notifications and data exports from Singular to your Business Intelligence platforms. Skip if you exclusively use the Singular Dashboard.
7. Set up other Singular features: Advanced features from Singular, such as ad monetization, banners, and fraud prevention.

What Singular does:

1. Automatically pulls marketing performance data from all your ad networks, agencies, and other sources into one database,
2. Combines this data with attribution stats pulled from Singular's native attribution solution or a third-party attribution tracker,
3. Presents the combined data in dashboards and reports that provide customized performance and ROI insights.

The data is presented with a high level of granularity, with breakdowns by app, campaign, targeted country, OS, publisher app, creative, and more.

To pull data from all the sources described above, Singular is integrated with over 1000 companies, including ad networks, agencies, self-attributing networks, BI services, and more.

Browse the full list of partners.

What is attribution?

Mobile app attribution is the process of connecting the install of a mobile app and the user's activities inside the app to the marketing campaign that led to the installation.

Singular makes these connections by matching an ad view or ad click that happens on a mobile device to the install (or, more precisely, the first session) of a mobile app on that same device.

Attribution may also be done by self-attributing networks such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Google, and Apple's SKAdNetwork.

See Understanding Singular Mobile App Attribution.

Events are user activities within your app post-install. Define and track events to understand your business activities and user flow. Examples: "Add to Cart", "In-app Purchase", and "Reached Level 4".

You'll need to define events in two places:

• In your app, while integrating the Singular SDK
• In the Singular dashboard

There are three types of events that Singular helps you track:

1. Cohort Events: Events defined by you and tracked by the Singular SDK. These events are "cohorted", i.e., measured based on the install date.
2. Conversion Events: Events received from your ad networks.
3. SKAN Events: SKAN events are automatically created based on the conversion model you create. These events cannot be edited.

Singular also allows you to specify options for events such as "unique", "first" and "actual". See Ways of Measuring Events in the resources below.

More help:

• How to Choose In-App Events
• Ways of Measuring Events
• Events FAQ

SKAdNetwork (SKAN) is Apple's attribution solution for iOS that aims to preserve its users' privacy. Data that can be used to uniquely identify a device or user is never available through SKAN.

SKAN introduced conversation values, a 6-bit value, to track post-install events and measure how valuable a user is. See Introduction to Singular's SKAdNetwork Solution.

Our SDK integration guides already address how to set up SKAN. However, you may want to see if our SKAdNetwork Integrated Partners have special limitations.

Probabilistic Attribution is Disabled

In probabilistic attribution, Singular's tracking URL is used to collect basic information about the device, such as IP address and model. However, starting with iOS 14.5, Apple prohibits probabilistic attribution methods for privacy concerns.

To protect advertisers and partners, Singular has disabled probabilistic matching by default for iOS 14 and above. As a technology provider, Singular is committed to helping our advertisers and partners comply with Apple policies. See SKAdNetwork Partners FAQ.

The conversion value, being a 6-bit value, is simply a number between 0 and 63. By itself, the number is meaningless. We assign meaning to the number by creating a conversion model.

A conversion model is a way to encode as much information as possible about the user and their post-install activity into the limited space of the conversion value. For a more detailed explanation, see Understanding Singular's Conversion Value Management.

If you've already understood and planned a model, you can configure it in the Singular app. To configure a new conversion model:

1. In your Singular account, go to SKAdNetwork > Model Configuration.
2. Select an app from the list on the left.
3. Click Add Conversion Model.
4. Select the Measurement Period. [?]
5. Select the model type. [?]
6. Enter a name for the model and configure the additional settings. These settings depend on the model type you selected.
7. Expand the Analyze Model section to see a simulated report of how the model with the current configured settings would perform with your data. [?]
8. Click Save. The new conversion model is added to the list.
9. To start using the model, toggle it on.

See the SKAdNetwork Model Configuration FAQ.

Once you've set up SKAdNetwork in your app, configured a conversion model, and allowed some time for data to start coming in, you can start to analyze your results. Singular offers two reports for SKAdNetwork:

1. SKAdNetwork Raw Data: Analyze the raw SKAdNetwork install data as received in SKAdNetwork postbacks before it's decoded. Go to SKAdNetwork > Raw Data. See SKAdNetwork Raw Data FAQ.
2. SKAdNetwork Reports: See SKAdNetwork data combined with ad network cost and impressions stats and CPI calculation. Go to SKAdNetwork > Reports. See SKAdNetwork Reports FAQ and Troubleshooting.

Notes:

• It takes Apple 24-72 hours to send SKAdNetwork data for Singular to show.
• Apple Search Ads does not use SKAdNetwork. The data for ASA campaigns is available in your regular reports (Analytics > Reports), even for iOS 14.5+ devices.
• Twitter and Google share SKAdNetwork data with Singular through special APIs, not by forwarding the actual postback. Therefore, you can't download postback-level SKAdNetwork data for these networks in Export Logs.
• The SKAdNetwork framework doesn't support web-to-app installs or installs based on probabilistic attribution (such as cross-promo).

Tracking links let Singular know when a user clicks on one of your ads (or views an ad if it's an impression-based campaign). Links can include additional parameters - such as the user's device platform or the ad creative asset - which can be leveraged in your reporting.

1. Go to Attribution > Manage Links.
2. Click on Manage Link Domains and create a new subdomain for yourself. Use something simple that represents your brand well, e.g., "gamesco.sng.link" where GamesCo is the name of your company. You can reuse the subdomains you've created.
3. From the management screen, click on the app for which you want to create a tracking link and click Create Link.
4. Under Link Type, select "Partner".
5. Choose your network partner under Source Name and give your link a name under Tracking Link Name.
6. In the Link Settings and Redirects section, select your subdomain under Link Sub-Domain.
7. If your network partner supports Android and iOS tracking, you can enable them. Choose the appropriate site for your app and provide a link to where you want to direct your viewer (usually the store URL).
8. Under For other platforms, go to, provide a backup destination URL, and create your tracking link by clicking the Generate button.

See Singular Links FAQ.

Singular allows you to track user activity in your custom sources, such as email and text message campaigns, as well as cross-promotional or influencer marketing campaigns.

1. Use the same steps as above by going to Attribution > Manage Links > Create Link.
2. Under Link Type, instead of "Partner" select "Custom Source".
3. Under Source Name, choose from "Crosspromo", "Email", "SMS", "Social", or "Custom". The value you choose here will be reflected in your reports under the Source dimension.

After you create a tracking link, you can test it.

See How to Test a Tracking Link.

If you want to direct existing users to specific parts of your app, you can configure a tracking link to be a deep link. This is what you use for re-engagement and retargeting campaigns.

With a deep link, if a user clicks the ad and they already have your app installed, not only will the app open - but it will show the app content of your choice, not the app's default screen.

See How to Create Deep Links: Guide for Marketing/Business Teams.

Once your campaigns are up, you can start running reports in Singular to analyze your ROI and measure campaign KPIs.

1. In the Singular app, go to Analytics > Reports.
2. At the top of the reports tab, use the date picker to select your desired date range.
3. Under Dimensions, select the values you want to see in your report. For example, select "App", "Source", and "OS".
4. Under Metrics, select the metrics you want to see in your report. For example, select "Impressions", "Clicks", "Installs", and "Cost".
5. Under Cohort Metrics, select the metrics you want to see. For example, select "Revenue" and "ROI".
6. Select other values and filters to refine your report. For example, select "7d" under Cohort Periods, and "All Time" under Time Breakdown.
7. Click the Run Report button to generate your report.

You can also try these sample reports:

• Day 3 ROI per Source in the last 3 months
• ROI per sub-campaign for Facebook

More help:

• Reports FAQ
• Understanding Singular reporting Data- how Singular combines your data
• Data Freshness and Update Times - how often Singular updates partner data
• Dimensions Availability FAQ - which networks provide which dimensions

If your ad network supports creative data, you can set up Singular to report on the performance of individual creative assets and their performance. You can also set up custom dimensions to run aggregated reports. This will help you understand and optimize your campaigns.

For a full guide, see How to Set Up and Run Creative Reports.

See Creative Reports: FAQ and Troubleshooting.

User-level data is useful for many reasons, such as cross-checking the data in aggregated reports in case there is a discrepancy or sharing fraud-related data with your partner networks.

You can export user-level logs up to the beginning of last month . We recommend keeping the date range as narrow as possible to avoid exceeding the record limit per download.

1. Go to Attribution > Export Logs.
2. Choose the relevant date range.
3. Select the app, the app site, and the type of log you want to export (clicks, installs, events, or postbacks).

4. Drag the fields you want into the Selected Fields box.

5. Optionally, you can filter the log by Attributed Partners, Countries, Device ID, and Device Type. For event logs, you can also filter by specific events, and for conversion logs, you can filter by conversion type. We recommend filtering the log as much as possible to avoid exceeding the record limit.
6. Click the Export Log button.

See Export Logs and User-Level Data FAQ.

To define events:

1. Go to Settings > Events.
2. Choose either the Cohort Events or Conversion Events tab, as appropriate. You may not see both options.
3. If you plan to use your event across multiple apps, select Global Events^[1][2]. Otherwise, select App Specific Events and choose your app from the dropdown.
4. Click the New Event button.
5. Give your event an indicative name and choose what event^[3] it maps to in your advertising platform.
6. To add the cost-per-event calculation to your reports, select the Cost Per Event (CPE) checkbox.
7. To add a metric for installs-to-event ratio, select the Event Conversion Rate (ECVR) checkbox.
8. Click Save.

Footnotes:

• ^[1] While you can define any number of events in the SDK, you can only create 12 events in the Singular Dashboard for aggregation.
• ^[2] You may have defined "count" events (total events) or "sum" events (dollar value). If you want to aggregate both, you need to create separate conversion events.
• ^[3] If you don't see your event in the dropdown, that means Singular isn't receiving it in the SDK.

More help:

• How to Choose In-App Events
• Ways of Measuring Events
• Events FAQ

When you visit the Dashboards page, you will see a pre-configured basic dashboard for your data. You can customize this dashboard or create a new one:

1. Go to Dashboards.

2. (Optional) Create a new dashboard by clicking the New Dashboard button.

3. Create new widgets to suit your needs.

Your dashboard will be updated automatically as new data becomes available.

See Dashboard FAQ.

If Data Destinations are enabled for your account:

1. Set up a destination for your service of choice. Step-by-step instructions for each service are available in our Data Destinations section.
2. Log into your Singular account and go to Settings > Data Destinations.
3. Click Add a New Destination to display a list of the supported destinations for your account.

The destinations marked "User-Level" are used to export user-level data. The others are used to export aggregated data. Ensure Singular IP addresses are whitelisted.

See Singular Data Destinations (ETL) FAQ and Troubleshooting.

When you configured your partners, you configured what postbacks (automatic notifications) you want Singular to send to them about attribution decisions and other events. But you can also have Singular send automatic postbacks to your own internal BI system, for tracking purposes.

1. Log into your Singular account, go to Attribution > Partner Configuration, and select the Internal BI partner.
2. In the configuration window, provide a postback URL (e.g., https://my_company_name.com/bi/event_endpoint?app=12). This is where Singular will send the postback through a POST request.
3. Configure the other postback settings the same way you would a partner postback (see How to Configure an Attribution Partner).

See Internal BI Postbacks: FAQ and Troubleshooting.

Singular's Fraud Prevention Engine protects your marketing efforts to prevent attribution fraud. The engine evaluates installs before finalizing the attribution or reporting it to the partner, thus preventing excessive billing for CPI/CPA campaigns.

For an introduction to Singular's fraud prevention mechanism, see Singular Fraud Prevention.

To configure your fraud prevention settings, see Configuring Fraud Settings and Configuring User-Defined Fraud Rules.

If you have it enabled for your account:

1. If you've already added apps for campaign performance reports, you do not need to modify anything. However, if you're monetizing different apps than the ones you're marketing, add those apps in Settings > Apps.
2. Go to Settings > Data Connectors and add an ad monetization data connector for each ad network through which you monetize apps. These data connectors have "(Ad Monetization)" in the name.
3. Allow 24 hours for Singular to pull data. See your Ad monetization reports in Analytics > Ad Monetization. 

See Ad Monetization Analytics FAQ.

Singular's ad revenue attribution gives you more visibility of your channel and campaign performance. There are three ways to set up Ad Revenue Attribution that balance additional integration against the amount of data available.

See the Onboarding Guide for Ad Revenue Attribution.

Singular Banners allow your brand to quickly and easily design, deploy, and maintain brand-relevant banners on your mobile website.

These banner experiences include call-to-actions, which, when engaged with, give mobile-web users a seamless experience with the most relevant mobile app content.

See Singular Banners.

Data Connectors:

• Used to aggregate campaign performance data (e.g., cost, clicks, impressions) from various ad networks into Singular.
• Provides a unified view of marketing performance across different channels.

Partner Configuration:

• Used to set up and manage attribution settings with advertising partners.
• Determines how installs and other conversion events are attributed to campaigns and how conversion data is shared with partners.

Most Partners will require you to set up both a data connector AND a partner configuration. Read more in Data Connectors FAQ and Partner Configuration FAQ.

If you're seeing "N/A" as the result of your attribution testing using a tracking link, it could indicate that the attribution process did not successfully associate the test click with an install or that there was an issue with the tracking link itself. Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot this issue:

• Check the Tracking Link: Ensure that the tracking link you used for the test does not contain any placeholders (macros) that were not replaced with actual values. For example, if you're testing on an Android device, the {google_advertising_id} macro should be replaced with the actual GAID of the test device. If you are testing an ios tracking link you will need to enable
• Reset Advertising ID: Confirm that you reset the advertising ID on your test device before clicking the tracking link. This is necessary to simulate a new install if it already had the app installed.
• Insert Device ID: Make sure you inserted the correct device ID into the tracking link before clicking on it.
• Check Postback Configuration: Verify that the advertiser has set up postbacks correctly in the Partner Configuration page.
• Fraud Protection: Consider whether the test install might have been flagged by Singular's fraud protection mechanism. If so, the advertiser will need to check for rejected installs under Fraud Prevention Rejected Report.
• Reporting Refresh Time: Keep in mind that if you are not doing the test via the Testing Console it will take up to an hour before you see it reported in any of the core aggregated reporting pages (Reports, Pivots, Dashboards and Export Logs)

Learn more in How To Test a Tracking Link

Until you'd configured the SDK in the apps you will not be able to set up Partner Configuration. Head to the SDK Docs to start integrating your apps.

Tracking links for apps won’t work until you have integrated the Singular SDK (or set up an S2S integration). Head to the SDK Docs to start integrating your apps.