/apple-search-ads

name: apple-search-ads
description: Apple Search Ads campaign strategy for indie developers — paid acquisition, keyword bidding, budget planning, and ROAS optimization. Use when user asks about running ads, paid user acquisition, or Apple Search Ads campaigns.
allowed-tools: [Read, Glob, Grep, AskUserQuestion, WebSearch]
last_verified: 2026-07-16
review_by: 2027-06-22

Apple Search Ads for Indie Developers

Plan, launch, and optimize Apple Search Ads campaigns that deliver profitable user acquisition for indie apps.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks about paid user acquisition or running ads for their app
• Mentions "Apple Search Ads", "Search Ads", or "ASA"
• Wants to set up ad campaigns in the App Store
• Asks about keyword bidding, CPT, or CPA optimization
• Needs help with campaign structure or budget allocation
• Wants to understand if paid acquisition makes sense for their app
• Asks how to complement ASO with paid promotion

Pre-Requisite Check: Are You Ready for Ads?

Before recommending any campaign setup, verify these minimum thresholds. Running ads on an unoptimized listing burns money.

Minimum Thresholds

| Requirement | Threshold | Why | |-------------|-----------|-----| | Organic downloads | 100+/month | Proves baseline demand exists | | App Store page CVR | > 20% | Ads amplify your listing — a bad listing wastes spend | | Screenshots | 5+ optimized | Paid traffic sees your product page first | | Ratings | 3.5+ stars (or none) | Low ratings kill conversion from ads | | Crash-free rate | > 99% | Crashes destroy ROAS through refunds and bad reviews | | Monetization | Active | No point acquiring users you can't monetize |

**If thresholds are not met:**

• Focus on organic ASO first (use `keyword-optimizer` skill)
• Fix product page conversion (use `screenshot-planner` and `app-description-writer` skills)
• Improve app quality and ratings before spending on acquisition

Readiness Decision

Have 100+ organic downloads/month?
├── NO → Stop. Fix organic first.
└── YES → Is your product page CVR > 20%?
    ├── NO → Optimize listing first, then run ads.
    └── YES → Ready for Apple Search Ads.

Campaign Types

Apple Search Ads offers four placement types. Not all are useful for indie developers. All placements price as **cost-per-tap on a second-price auction** — you pay just above the next-highest bid, never your max — with **no minimum spend**, and daily budgets are adjustable anytime.

Search Results (Recommended Starting Point)

• **Where**: Top of search results when users search specific keywords
• **Targeting**: Keyword-based (exact match or broad match)
• **Cost model**: Cost Per Tap (CPT)
• **Best for**: High-intent users actively looking for your category
• **Indie priority**: Start here. This is where you get the most control and best ROAS.

Search Tab

• **Where**: Top of the Search tab before user types anything
• **Targeting**: Audience-based (demographics, customer type)
• **Cost model**: Cost Per Tap (CPT)
• **Best for**: Brand awareness and discovery
• **Indie priority**: Use after Search Results campaigns are profitable. Good for launch visibility.

Today Tab

• **Where**: Today tab in the App Store
• **Targeting**: Audience-based
• **Cost model**: Cost Per Tap (CPT)
• **Requirements**: Ads always come from a Custom Product Page with **≥4 portrait or ≥5 landscape assets**, and undergo a separate creative review
• **Best for**: Mass awareness, seasonal pushes
• **Indie priority**: Usually too expensive for indie budgets. Skip unless budget allows $500+/day.

Product Page (You Might Also Like)

• **Where**: "You Might Also Like" section on other apps' product pages
• **Targeting**: Audience and category-based
• **Cost model**: Cost Per Tap (CPT)
• **Best for**: Reaching users browsing competitor or related apps
• **Indie priority**: Good second campaign after Search Results. Lower intent but can find relevant users.

Recommended Progression for Indie Developers

Stage 1: Search Results (exact match keywords)
    ↓ profitable?
Stage 2: Search Results (broad match for discovery)
    ↓ profitable?
Stage 3: Product Page (competitor audiences)
    ↓ profitable?
Stage 4: Search Tab (brand awareness)

Discovery Campaigns as Keyword Research

Beyond acquisition, a low-budget broad-match discovery campaign is the cheapest source of Apple's official keyword popularity data and the real queries users type. Even if it never turns a profit, harvest the Search Terms report into your organic metadata — see `keyword-optimizer` advanced tactics (§14) for the quarterly routine.

Keyword Strategy

Keyword Categories

**1. Brand Keywords (Your App Name)**

• Bid on these ONLY if competitors are bidding on your name
• Check by searching your app name — if a competitor appears above you, bid
• Otherwise, save the budget; you already rank #1 organically

**2. Category Keywords (Generic Terms)**

• Examples: "todo app", "weather radar", "habit tracker"
• High volume, high competition, expensive
• Target long-tail variants: "simple todo app", "habit tracker no account"
• These are your bread and butter for growth

**3. Competitor Keywords (Rival App Names)**

• Legal and common practice in Apple Search Ads
• Lower conversion (users wanted the other app) but can be effective
• Best when your app has a clear advantage over that competitor
• Use Custom Product Pages to message directly against competitors

**4. Discovery Keywords (Problem/Solution)**

• Examples: "stop procrastinating", "save money automatically", "focus while studying"
• Lower volume but very high intent
• Often cheapest CPT because few advertisers target them
• Excellent ROAS potential

The ASA → Organic Halo

Paid conversions on a keyword lift that keyword's **organic** rank — Apple's algorithm reads them as conversion velocity. Two implications:

• Run exact-match campaigns on your target organic terms to accelerate ra