Whether you have built an app or you market apps, the Google Play Console is the central place to monitor user activity on its Android version. The Google Play Console provides app developers and marketing professionals with deep insights into app performance, including growth metrics, technical aspects such as crashes, and financial data. It offers acquisition/download reports and detailed analyses, using native data from Google’s app store, Google Play, to accurately reflect app performance. Key features include tracking conversion rates and understanding the traffic sources from which users were referred.
Analysis of Installs, Users, and Traffic Sources:
In the past year, Google has updated the way it attributes downloads to traffic sources. These updates represent a significant improvement in the ability to analyze the effectiveness of paid campaigns, but especially organic growth from within the store itself. Analyzing this data in the new and extensive detail that Google Play allows, greatly helps the ASO process, App Store Optimization, by analyzing the app’s organic traffic, effectiveness, and keyword targeting.
Main changes:
- Separation of paid and organic traffic sources:
Google allows separating paid traffic sources (campaigns), including visitors who arrived from Google Ads campaigns (Google App Campaigns, formerly UAC). - Separation between branded search and generic search:
Downloads following branded searches (brand name and/or app name), browsing in the store, and generic searches (queries of functionality, features, category, and competitor names).
In order to understand how many downloads your Android app received from paid traffic sources, branded searches, generic searches, and browsing, it is necessary to know Google’s official definitions for traffic sources:
First, and this is the confusing part, there are 2 levels of traffic source analysis. Google Play sees each traffic source as having a value based on one of the two analysis levels. The value itself is defined as Traffic Source Value, and the two levels are:
- Overall store analysis – analysis of sources at a lower resolution (more simplistic analysis)
- Store listing analysis – analysis of sources at a higher resolution (more detailed analysis)
Let’s start with the traffic source values at the first analysis level (Overall store analysis):
- All Traffic Sources (All Traffic Sources):
Represents all users who installed an app from any part of Google Play, assuming the app was not installed by them on other devices. It includes all discovery and installation methods. - Browsing and discovery (Google Play Explore):
This traffic source includes users who found and installed an app through general browsing on Google Play, without explicitly searching for the app name. This includes browsing the Google Play homepage, app recommendation sections, category leader lists, or searching by functionality (for example, searching for “PDF scanners” or “games for kids”).
- Paid and direct (Paid and Direct):
This source represents the number of users who installed an app after directly searching for the app name or a brand associated with it on Google Play, or through paid campaigns (on Google, Facebook, etc.).
This is how it will look in the Google Play Console itself:
Now let’s move on to the more detailed analysis known in Google Play as Store listing analysis:
- All Traffic Sources (All Traffic Sources):
The source represents all users who visited the app’s store listing page or a minimal details page and then installed the app, provided it was not installed by them on other devices at that time. The metric does not include acquisitions from ads in certain placements like banners on category pages. - Google Play Search (Google Play Search):
This traffic source represents users who found the app page by searching on Google Play by the app name or a brand associated with it. It includes those who visited the store listing page or a small preview page before installing the app, and did not own the app on other devices. The metric does not include visits from ads shown in Google Play search results. - Browsing and discovery (Google Play Explore):
Represents users who browsed on Google Play, visited the app page, and then installed the app, provided it was not installed by them on other devices. This includes users who clicked on autocomplete suggestions (Auto suggest) in search and users who searched for an app category, such as ‘PDF scanner’. The metric does not include visits from ads on Google Play. - Ads and referrals (Ads and Referrals):
This source represents users who arrived at your app page from an ad or referral and then installed the app, provided it was not installed by them on other devices. This includes installers from ads via an inline install overlay that is sometimes shown outside the Play Store.
This is how it will look in the Google Play Console itself (scroll down on the Store analysis page):
Key differences between the two traffic source values:
I know these definitions are a bit confusing, and I was confused at first too. But this summary table will help you a lot with the subject:
Traffic Source / Analysis Level | Overall store analysis | Store listing analysis |
All Sources | Represents the total number of users who installed your app. New or returning users. | Represents the total of new users only who installed your app, only if they previously visited your app’s store page |
Google Play Search | Does not exist – represented within Explore | Represents new users who installed your app after searching for the app name or the brand name associated with the app. That is, mostly represents (branded search) |
Google Play Explore | Represents all users who installed your app after browsing on Google Play, and/or searching on Google Play that does not include the app name or the brand name associated with it. Includes all users, new or returning. | Represents new users who installed your app after browsing on Google Play, or conducting a search on Google Play that does not include your app name or its associated brand name. That is, mostly generic searches (non-branded search) |
Paid & Direct | Represents all users (new and/or returning) who installed your app following a referral from an ad or a search for the app name, or the brand name associated with it. | Does not exist – representation is divided between Search and Ads & Referrals |
Ads & Referrals | Does not exist – represented within Paid & Direct | Represents new users who installed the app following a paid campaign or from an external referral to Google Play. The source includes users who installed the app from external advertising systems without a referral to the app’s page on Google Play. |
In summary, the first level (Overall Store Analysis) refers to all types of users who installed your app, whether it is a first-time install or a re-install after the app was already installed on any Android device owned by the user. This level does not distinguish between branded searches and paid campaign referrals.
The second level (Store Listing Analysis) refers only to new users who installed your app for the first time, and it was not previously installed on any of the Android devices owned by the user.
Practical example:
Suppose you want to discover generic search terms for which your app ranks high and that generate installs, you will need to go to the report at the Store Listing Analysis level and select the traffic source Google Play Explore, provided the search term is popular enough and you have a significant volume of installs from it.
This is how you will be able to see it in the report in Google Play Console as follows (scroll all the way down on the Store Analysis page):
Conversion rate analysis:
In addition to analyzing traffic sources, the Google Play Console will also show you user conversion data. Conversion rate analysis can be performed across many breakdowns, including breakdown by traffic sources as presented above, but also by: country, language version, language, search term, and more.
Conversion in Google Play is calculated as the ratio of the number of app installs to the total visits to the app page. For this calculation, Google Play does not take into account visits to the app page by users who already have the app installed on one of their devices, nor re-installs by these users.
One of the advantages of analyzing conversion rates in Google Play, compared to, for example, Apple App Store Connect, is the ability to benchmark against standard reference metrics (Benchmarks).
Using benchmarks allows app developers and marketers to compare their app’s conversion performance against peers. By analyzing these metrics, developers can identify areas for improvement. For example, if an app’s conversion rate in a certain language is lower than competitors in the category, it may indicate a need to check the accuracy of the listing translation in that language.
The store listing conversion rate chart allows a daily comparison of an app’s conversion performance against the median, 25th, and 75th percentiles of its peers. In addition, a detailed data table shows a comparison between the overall conversion rate for a selected period and the peer median for the last 28 days of the selected period. This comparison is an important tool for marketers and developers to evaluate their app’s performance and make improvements as needed.
To view the conversion rate analysis, select the Listing conversion analysis page in the left menu. There you can choose the relevant breakdown (country, traffic source, and more). This is how it looks in the Google Play Console interface:
Now you are ready to analyze your Android app’s install data and conversion rates in an in-depth manner that will lead to important marketing insights in marketing and promoting your app.
