Match each Apple Search Ads ad group to a custom product page
Apple Search Ads can now run custom product pages as ad variations in search results. The gain comes from pairing each keyword theme with a page that answers that search, not from making more pages.
On January 26, Apple said developers can promote custom product pages in App Store search results through Apple Search Ads. Each ad variation can show different screenshots or videos to a different group of searchers. Apple says an app can have up to 35 additional product page versions, and each one can be turned into an ad.
Custom product pages themselves arrived with iOS 15. What is new is that a paid search tap no longer has to land on the single default page. That is a real change in how you can use your keyword structure.
Use the page to answer the query, not to showcase the app
A searcher who types a generic category term and one who types a specific feature are asking different questions. The default product page has to serve everyone, so it usually leads with the broadest story. A custom page lets you lead with the screenshots and video that answer the question the person just typed.
Take a hypothetical subscription fitness app. An ad group of keywords about home workouts can open on a page whose first screenshots show at-home routines, while an ad group about tracking progress opens on a page built around charts and history. Same app, same listing, different first impression. The rule is to let the keyword theme decide the page's first two or three screenshots, and leave the rest of the page consistent.
Build pages around ad groups you already trust
Start from your existing structure. Pick the two or three ad groups with the highest spend and a clearly distinct theme. Those are the places where a mismatched default page is costing you the most, and where you will have enough taps to read a result.
- Write the theme in one sentence. If you can't say what the searchers want in a sentence, the ad group is too mixed to get its own page.
- Change one thing at a time. Swap the lead screenshots and, if you wish, the promotional text. Don't redesign the whole page, or you won't know what moved the result.
- Keep the default as your control. Run the custom variation against the default for the same theme, and compare the same metrics over the same dates.
Read the right metrics
An ad variation affects what people see on the product page and in the ad, so look at tap-through rate and the conversion rate from tap to install, then cost per install and your downstream cost per trial or purchase. A page that lifts taps but attracts the wrong users will look good on the first two and bad on the last. Where you can, follow users through to a post-install event before declaring a winner.
Be careful about sample size. A variation on a low-volume ad group can take weeks to say anything. If a theme gets only a few dozen taps a week, it doesn't deserve its own page yet; fold it into a neighboring theme.
Know the constraints before you plan
- Device and OS. Third-party reports describe iOS 15.2 as the minimum for the custom ad to be shown. Users on earlier versions see the default ad, so your results reflect only part of your traffic.
- One variation per ad group. Reports on the launch say only one custom page ad variation can be enabled per ad group at a time, alongside the default ad. If you want to test two pages against each other for one theme, you need two ad groups with equivalent targeting. Check this in your account before you plan a test layout.
If you've already structured ad groups by brand, category and competitor themes, the pages are a natural extension. A brand ad group should usually keep the default page, since those searchers already know the app. A competitor ad group is where a comparison-style first screenshot may earn its place, within the App Store's content rules.
Where to start this week
Pick your single highest-spending non-brand ad group. Write down its theme, build one custom page that leads with that theme, and run it against the default for at least two weeks. If it wins on cost per downstream action, not just on taps, roll the pattern out to the next ad group. If it doesn't, you've learned the default was already doing the job.