What is the difference between an MMP and a deep linking platform?

An MMP bundles deep linking together with full cross-channel attribution and fraud detection, built for teams running paid acquisition across many ad networks. A dedicated deep linking platform focuses on routing users to the right in-app screen and basic attribution, without the broader MMP feature set, which suits teams that do not need the full suite.

What is the difference between ARPU and ARPPU?

ARPU divides total revenue by all active users, including those who never paid, so it reflects revenue across your entire user base. ARPPU divides total revenue only by paying users, so it reflects how much your monetized users are worth once they convert, and is almost always larger than ARPU for the same app (they are equal only if every user pays).

Why does the attribution model I choose matter?

The model decides how credit for a conversion is split across the touchpoints a user encountered. A channel that introduces users but rarely closes them can look highly effective under one model and worthless under another, so the model directly shapes which campaigns get funded.

Glossary

Mobile Attribution & Deep Linking Glossary

Straight answers to the acronyms and jargon that show up constantly in mobile growth, attribution, and deep linking. Each entry stands on its own, so jump to whatever you need.

Deep linking terms

Deep link: A deep link is a URL that opens an app directly to a specific screen or piece of content, instead of just launching the app to its home screen. Deep links can use a custom scheme, a Universal Link, or an App Link, depending on the platform and how much verification is involved.Deep Link vs Universal Link
Universal Link (iOS) / App Link (Android): A Universal Link on iOS, or an App Link on Android, is a deep link built on a standard HTTPS URL that has been cryptographically verified to belong to your app. Verified links open the app directly with no chooser dialog and fall back gracefully to a webpage if the app is not installed.
Deferred deep link: A deferred deep link is a link that still routes a user to the correct in-app screen even though they had to install the app in between clicking the link and opening it. It closes the gap left by app stores, which do not natively pass link data through to a freshly installed app.Deferred Deep Linking Explained
Smart link: A smart link is a single URL that routes to different destinations depending on the visitor's device, operating system, and app-install state, rather than always redirecting to the same fixed address the way a plain short URL does.What Are Smart Links
Probabilistic vs deterministic matching: Deterministic matching uses a provable identifier, such as Android's Play Install Referrer API or a clipboard token, to create a certain one-to-one match between a click and an install. Probabilistic matching compares device signals like IP address and OS version within a time window to make a statistical best guess, used as a fallback when no deterministic identifier is available.

Attribution and MMP terms

MMP (Mobile Measurement Platform): An MMP is a platform that connects app installs and in-app events back to the marketing campaigns that drove them, typically bundling deep linking, cross-channel attribution, and fraud detection into one SDK. AppsFlyer, Branch, and Adjust are the leading examples. Because MMPs are built for teams running paid acquisition across many networks, they are often more platform than a team needs if deep linking and basic attribution are the real requirement.
Attribution modeling: Attribution modeling is the set of rules used to decide how much credit a given marketing touchpoint gets for a conversion, when a user interacted with more than one channel before converting. Common models include last-click, first-click, and multi-touch, and the model you choose changes which channels look effective, so it is a business decision as much as a technical one.What Is Mobile Attribution
Click-through vs view-through attribution: Click-through attribution credits a conversion to an ad only if the user actually clicked it before converting. View-through attribution credits a conversion to an ad the user merely saw, without clicking, before converting later through another path. View-through windows are typically shorter and used mainly for display and video ad formats where clicks are rare but exposure still influences behavior.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User): ARPU is total revenue divided by the total number of active users over a given period, regardless of whether each individual user paid anything. It is a blended metric that shows how much revenue your user base generates on average, useful for comparing monetization efficiency across cohorts or time periods.
ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User): ARPPU is total revenue divided only by the number of users who actually paid, excluding free users from the denominator entirely. Because it isolates paying behavior, ARPPU tends to be a much larger number than ARPU and is more useful for understanding how much your monetized users are worth once they convert.
eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille): eCPM is the effective cost or revenue per one thousand ad impressions, calculated by dividing total ad revenue or spend by total impressions and multiplying by one thousand. It is used to normalize ad performance across placements and formats that sell on different pricing models, so results are comparable on a common basis.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): CPA is the total cost of a marketing effort divided by the number of acquisitions, conversions, or installs it produced. Unlike CPC or CPM, which measure cost against clicks or impressions, CPA measures cost against the actual outcome you care about, which makes it a more direct efficiency metric for comparing channels.
App stickiness: App stickiness measures how much of your monthly user base is actually engaging daily, typically expressed as the ratio of daily active users to monthly active users. A higher stickiness ratio indicates a habitual, frequently used app, while a low ratio suggests users install but rarely return.

Frequently asked questions

Looking for deep linking and attribution in one place?

Ulinkly gives you deep linking with unlimited link creation, free for up to 10,000 monthly active users; deferred deep linking and attribution are on paid plans from 9 dollars per month.

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