Apple Ads Management For App Store Campaigns

Apple Ads was called Apple Search Ads until 2025, and it is still the one place where an app install starts with a search. We run it beside your Google App campaigns and paid social, with the same senior lead and the same report.

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Komplex manages Apple Ads, the App Store advertising platform known as Apple Search Ads until April 2025. We do it for app companies from Austin, Texas, with a presence in New York City and Reykjavik. We run all four placements on the Advanced tier: search results, the Search tab, the Today tab, and product pages. Custom product pages and SKAdNetwork attribution come with it. Apple Ads sits inside our wider paid search management, usually beside Google App campaigns and Meta or TikTok app installs.

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The One App Store Placement That Behaves Like Search

Someone opens the App Store, types what they want, and taps the top result. Apple says almost two thirds of downloads happen right after a search. That makes the search results placement the closest thing to Google Ads in app marketing. The other three placements reach people before they search, or while they look at a competitor. We start with search results, prove the keywords, and add the rest where the numbers hold.

Isometric illustration of a marketer reviewing keyword research as Komplex ranks number one in search results.

How Apple Ads Differs From Everything Else In The Account

You pay per tap in a second price auction, not per click. Attribution runs through SKAdNetwork and Apple's own attribution, so the numbers arrive later and look different from Meta's or Google's. Basic sets the bids for you and caps the budget. Advanced gives you keywords, bids, placements, and custom product pages, so that is where we run every account.

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What We Manage In Apple Ads

Five pieces, all inside the Apple Ads console, all reported beside the rest of your paid media.

Keyword Strategy

Brand, competitor, category, and discovery campaigns kept apart, with Search Match used to find terms and exact match used to own them. Negatives go in from day one.

Bids And Cost Per Tap

Bids set per keyword from install and trial value rather than from Apple's suggestions. Tap to install rates get watched by keyword, so budget follows what converts.

Custom Product Pages

A product page built for each keyword theme, so the screenshots and copy match what the person searched. Deep links take them into the app where that helps.

Placements Mix

Search results first. Then product pages, the Search tab, and the Today tab, tested one at a time, each on its own budget and judged on installs.

Attribution And Reporting

SKAdNetwork and Apple Ads attribution set up and read correctly, with Apple on its own line beside Google App campaigns and paid social.

Start With Your Current Campaigns

Send read only access to Apple Ads and Google Ads. We show you what the App Store returns today and what it could return.

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WHERE APPLE ADS APPEAR

The Four App Store Placements

Apple sells four placements, and the most common mistake on agency pages is listing three. Here is each one and what it is for.

Search Results

The sponsored result at the top of App Store search, plus more sponsored slots further down the results since March 2026. The only placement with keywords and the one with the highest intent.

Search Tab

An ad at the top of the Search tab before anyone types. Cheap, low tap rate, and useful for keeping an app in front of people who search often.

Today Tab

Front page of the App Store, in a large format that needs a custom product page. The most expensive placement and the one that depends most on creative.

Product Pages

A slot in the You Might Also Like unit at the bottom of other apps' pages. Reaches people already looking at a competitor or a related app.

Which Placements Should Your App Run?

Tell us what the app does and what an install is worth. We will map the placements to a job each and put a budget beside them.

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What Does An Apple Ads Agency Do?

An Apple Ads agency manages advertising inside Apple's App Store for an app company. The platform was called Apple Search Ads until April 2025. The work covers keyword research and campaign structure, bids and budgets, custom product pages, and the mix of the four placements. It also covers attribution through SKAdNetwork and Apple Ads attribution. The app gains installs from App Store search without the company running the console itself.

Komplex runs this from Austin, Texas, with people in New York City and Reykjavik. The clients are app companies that already run Google and paid social with us, and one senior lead runs the whole account.

Common Questions About Apple Ads

Is Apple Search Ads the same as Apple Ads?

Yes. Apple renamed Apple Search Ads to Apple Ads on April 14, 2025. The ads had spread beyond search results to the Search tab, the Today tab, and product pages, and the old name no longer fit. The console, the account, and the campaigns are the same thing under the new name.

Should we run Apple Ads Basic or Advanced?

Advanced. Basic runs search results only, sets bids for you, and caps the monthly budget, which is fine for a test and useless for a plan. Advanced gives you keywords, bids, all four placements, custom product pages, and no cap. It is the only tier an agency can do real work in.

What do Apple Ads cost?

You pay per tap on Advanced, in a second price auction where the rate depends on the keyword, the country, and who else is bidding. There is no fixed price and we do not quote one. Our own fee is separate. Media management is billed as a retainer plus a share of ad spend, sized after a conversation about the account. Other formats are possible where one fits better.

Where do Apple Ads appear?

In four places inside the App Store. The first is the top of search results, with extra sponsored slots further down since March 2026. The second is the top of the Search tab. The third is the Today tab front page. The fourth is the You Might Also Like unit on other apps’ product pages. Apple has said more placements are coming, and we add them only once Apple documents them.

Do you do App Store Optimization as well?

We handle the parts that touch the ads: keyword research, the custom product pages, and the screenshots and copy those pages use. Full App Store Optimization is a separate piece of work: the organic listing, the ratings strategy, and localization. We will tell you plainly whether it is one we should take on for you.

Do you need to be an Apple Ads Partner to manage our account?

No. Apple runs a partner directory for agencies and tools, and being listed is not a requirement to manage an account. Access works through the Apple Ads console with your team’s permission, and you keep the account either way.

Let's Look At Your App Store Numbers Together

Send read only access to Apple Ads and Google Ads, or just tell us what the app does and what an install is worth. You get a plan and a plain view of what the App Store could add.

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Apple Ads Management For App Store Campaigns

The One App Store Placement That Behaves Like Search

How Apple Ads Differs From Everything Else In The Account