Mobile Game Measurement
Partner (MMP)

Mobile measurement partners help mobile game / app developers and marketers understand their data more clearly, and therefore maximize return on ad spend (ROAS). This means collating data from multiple sources and attributing it to channels, campaigns etc, so marketers can make strategic decisions with confidence.

What is SKAN, ATT, Privacy Sandbox for Android and ‘post-IDFA world’?

If a mobile game or app collects data about end-users for tracking and sharing purposes, Apple requires implementing an ATT consent form (since the iOS 14.5 launch in April 2021). This means obtaining explicit user consent to collect their personal data as outlined in Apple’s  App Tracking Transparency webpage.

Previously, it was implicit consent and explicit opt-out but the implementation of ATT has virtually retired the once widely used IDFA.

This move by Apple resulted in a massive drop in data tracking and attribution accuracy (from more than 90% of player consents down to around 10-20%), which has been wreaking havoc in user acquisition performance and ROAS / ROI campaign visibility ever since.

To help developers get at least some visibility into their marketing performance, Apple created SKAN (StoreKit Ad Network, or SKAdNetwork) – a privacy-focused framework allowing limited attribution features for a short time after install.

A similar solution, using a slightly different approach was announced by Google as Privacy Sandbox for Android, and is expected to be launched sometime in 2023. This will retire Android’s version of IDFA called GAID, further diminishing UA evaluation capabilities and performance on mobile.

These changes are colloquially called a ‘post-IDFA world’ in mobile.

How MMPs provide value in the post-IDFA world?

Given the privacy restrictions introduced by Apple’s ATT on iOS 14.5, and the analogous effort by Google on the up-and-coming Privacy Sandbox for Android, the role and out-of-the-box value of MMPs have dramatically changed.

The off-the-shelf MMP setup does NOT provide a reliable way to properly evaluate UA on iOS which leads many developers to drastically scale down or completely abandon their marketing spend on iOS. Developers and publishers need to invest much more resources into being able to track this effectively. And of course, many don’t have the staff, money or time to be able to do so.

How do MMPs work?

Most MMPs work by implementing a software development kit (SDK) into the app / game. In short, this retrieves the signals needed to get metrics such as purchases, installs and so on. From there, the data can be unbiasedly examined and presented in a more standardized format with actionable metrics. This tends to be more reliable and much easier to interpret than basic SKAN (StoreKit AdNetwork) attribution data.

Some MMPs can provide more advanced tools such as ad fraud blocking which help prevent the likes of click flooding, SDK spoofing and install hijacking but this is very much dependent on the company.

Most MMPs will work with a variety of attribution models to best acquire the data most relevant to the client’s needs. The three most common models are; first-touch attribution which attributes a conversion to the first click / interaction of the conversion path; last-touch attribution which treats the last click / interaction as the conversion; and finally, multi-touch attribution which accounts for all touchpoints in the buyer journey and will associate percentages towards each touchpoint.

Is SuperScale an MMP?

In short, SuperScale is NOT an MMP. Our solution delivers business impact with a more holistic approach to scaling mobile games and blockchain apps with industry-leading data analytics being at the core of everything. However, we deliver on the same objectives in a far superior way and actually partner with MMPs to do so (which is discussed in the next section).

Our complete growth solution entails two main components; Predictive Dashboards that offer unparalleled visibility into ROAS post-IDFA; and our self-publishing services which not only increases player LTV through AI personalization and monetization, but also maximizes mobile game user acquisition (UA) by helping scale your game to levels rarely seen post-IDFA.

How do SuperScale and MMPs work together?

Despite some optimistic marketing communications, MMPs require a lot of custom setup on the side of the game publishers and come with many limitations. As of now, they serve only as a small piece of the ‘actual’ data picture we present on our dashboards. Within SuperInsights,

we have worked with and / or tested every major MMP so we can uncover the full data picture and provide publishers with a single source of truth within their own data lake.

As an example, much longer prediction windows as D7 ROAS are needed to really help UA managers decide if a campaign is performing well or not. So instead, we do all the hard work and use SuperETL (our custom-built data connector and processor) to pull both mobile and off-chain data (if working with blockchain apps) onto a single dashboard. This includes using MMPs such as Singular, Appsflyer and so on, to help us collate a small portion of the attribution data which eventually helps formulate the likes of our industry-leading ROAS predictions.

We also have multiple in-house experts who will help set up all of the data connectors and provide ongoing support to your business. There is no need for you to have a huge team of in-house data scientists or for you to spend large amounts of time and resources – we do all the hard work for you.

Whether you’re struggling to get ‘actual’ insights into your marketing performance or are not happy with your current MMP, SuperScale can help. Get in touch here for a 15-minute qualification call.