About Budget Allocation KPIs, goals, and attribution settings

The Budget Allocation KPI determines which performance metric is used to compare campaigns and distribute budget. You can select CPA, CPI, or CPG when you create a budget allocation group.

The selected KPI also determines the goal and attribution settings available during setup. To configure these fields, see Create a budget allocation group.

Choose a KPI

You can select one of the following KPIs:

KPI	Meaning	Performance value	MMP required
CPA	Cost per Install	Cost per install	No
CPI	Cost per Attributed Install	Cost per attributed install	Yes
CPG	Cost per selected Goal	Cost per the goal selected for the allocation	Yes

*An MMP is a Mobile Measurement Partner connected to the selected app.

CPA

Select CPA when the allocation group should compare campaigns using cost per install.

For CPA allocation groups:

The goal is Installs (tap-through).
The goal is shown as a read-only field.
An MMP connection is not required.
Attribution settings do not apply.

CPI

Select CPI when the allocation group should compare campaigns using cost per attributed install.

For CPI allocation groups:

The goal is Attributed Installs.
The goal is shown as a read-only field.
The selected app must have an MMP connection.
You must configure Attribution Type and Claim Type.

CPG

Select CPG when the allocation group should compare campaigns using the cost of a selected goal.

For CPG allocation groups:

You must select a goal configured for the app.
The selected app must have an MMP connection.
You must configure Attribution Type, Claim Type, Reporting Time, and Attribution Delay.

For information about how the selected KPI affects campaign ranking, see How KPI performance affects budget distribution.

Understand goals

The Goal field appears after you select a KPI.

KPI	Goal
CPA	Installs (tap-through)
CPI	Attributed Installs
CPG	A goal selected from the goals configured for the app

The CPA and CPI goals are read-only. For CPG, select a goal from the dropdown. Selecting a goal is required before you can create the allocation group.

If the app does not have any goals, select + Create Goal to create one.

Understand attribution settings

Attribution settings are available for CPI and CPG allocation groups. They determine which MMP-attributed installs or goal completions are included when the selected KPI is calculated.

The resulting CPI or CPG values are used to compare campaign performance and influence how budget is distributed.

Attribution Type

Attribution Type controls whether the calculation includes non-re-attributed data, re-attributed data, or both.

Re-attribution is the process of linking activity from a returning user to a previous app install. For example, this can occur when a user uninstalls the app, later reinstalls it, and then completes another action.

Option	What it includes	Availability
Without Re-attribution	Only attributed data that is not marked as re-attributed	Default
With Re-attribution	Both non-re-attributed and re-attributed data	Available option
Only Re-attribution	Only data marked as re-attributed	Available option

Attribution Type applies to CPI and CPG.

Claim Type

Claim Type controls which type of ad interaction can receive credit for an attributed install or goal completion.

Option	What it includes	Availability
Tap-through	Attributed activity from users who tapped the ad before installing the app	Default
View-through	Attributed activity from users who saw the ad without tapping it before installing the app	Available option
Total	Both tap-through and view-through attributed activity	Available option

Claim Type applies to CPI and CPG.

Select the claim type that matches how you want the allocation to measure MMP-attributed performance.

Reporting Time

Reporting Time determines which date is used to report CPG goal completions.

Option	How goal completions are reported	Availability
Install time	Reports the goal completion based on the date the user installed the app	Default
Event time	Reports the goal completion based on the date the selected goal occurred	Available option

Reporting Time applies only to CPG. Use Install time when you want post-install goal activity to remain associated with the date of user acquisition. Use Event time when you want to evaluate goal completions based on when the activity occurred.

Attribution Delay

Attribution Delay applies only to CPG.

It represents the estimated or observed average number of days between installs and when goals are triggered. When Reporting Time is set to Install time, the delay helps Budget Allocation account for the time users may need to complete the selected goal after installing the app.

You can select:

1 day, which is the default
3 days
7 days
14 days

Attribution Delay is available when Reporting Time is set to Install time.

When you select Event time, Attribution Delay is disabled and automatically set to 1 day. Because Event time reports the goal on the date it occurred, a separate post-install delay does not need to be selected.

Hovering over the disabled field shows:

The attribution delay cannot be selected in Event time. It will take 1 day by default.

When CPI and CPG are unavailable

CPI and CPG are disabled when the selected app does not have an MMP connected.

Hovering over either disabled option shows:

No attribution partner is connected for this app. Connect one from the attributions page or select a different app.

You can select CPA without an MMP connection.

For additional help with unavailable KPI options, see Troubleshoot Budget Allocation.

Settings you cannot change after creation

After you create a budget allocation group, you cannot change its:

App
KPI
Attribution settings

To use a different app, KPI, or attribution setup, create a new budget allocation group.

Other allocation settings can be managed from the allocation group’s Details page. See Edit, pause, resume, or delete a budget allocation group.

Need more help?

If you have further questions on the process, contact your dedicated Customer Success Manager or contact the support team via live chat.