What is App retargeting?
Your app users are your highest-converting audience; they've already downloaded your app, which means they know your brand and are far closer to buying than a first-time visitor.
App retargeting lets you re-engage people who already have your app installed by reaching them with personalized display and video ads, bringing them back to complete a purchase or other valuable action.
How it works?
Criteo serves personalized display and video ads to your existing app users across mobile web and in-app environments. When someone taps your ad, they're taken directly into your app, not to a website. Your mobile measurement partner (MMP) tracks what happens next and reports those conversions back to Commerce Growth.
This is not the same as app install campaigns, which target people who don't have your app yet and aim to get them to download it. App retargeting is purely about re-engagement, bringing back people who are already in your ecosystem.
How is it different from web retargeting?
If you already run web retargeting with Criteo, app retargeting will feel familiar. The core logic is the same: reach the right people with the right ad at the right moment. But there are a few important differences.
| Web retargeting | App retargeting |
Where users land after clicking | Your website | Your iOS or Android app |
How performance is measured | Criteo OneTag (pixel on your site) | Your mobile measurement partner (MMP) - alternatively using direct Server to Server (S2S) integration |
How attribution works | Post-click and post-view via OneTag | Deduplication flag from your MMP |
Devices your ads reach | Desktop, mobile, and tablet | Mobile and tablet only |
Where your ads are shown | Web and in-app environments | Mobile web and in-app environments |
What can you do with app retargeting?
Re-engage lapsed users. Someone downloaded your app six months ago and hasn't opened it since. App retargeting finds them and serves a relevant ad, whether they're browsing the web or using another app, and brings them back.
Drive in-app purchases. A user added items to their cart in your app but didn't complete the purchase. App retargeting shows them exactly those products and delivers them back to where they left off.
Expand beyond web retargeting. Web-only campaigns miss users who've shifted their browsing to your app. App retargeting closes that gap, so you're not leaving revenue behind just because someone switched devices or environments.
How is performance measured?
Performance appears in Commerce Growth Reporting; the same place you track your web campaigns. There are no separate app-specific reports; you'll find app retargeting data alongside your other ad sets.
One important thing to understand: attribution is based on deduplication. This means Commerce Growth reports only the conversions that your MMP attributes to Criteo. This keeps your numbers as close as possible to what you see in your MMP — small discrepancies may still occur, but they're minimized.
Because your MMP is the source of truth for app conversions, it's worth reviewing your MMP dashboard alongside your Commerce Growth reports, especially when you first launch.