// Channel · Apple Search Ads

Apple Search Ads, run by operators who also own your organic listing.

Discovery, Today Tab, Search Results and Product Page tabs — mapped keyword-for-keyword against your organic footprint, with Custom Product Pages behind every intent cluster.

4% of managed spendBelow $12K/mo → $479/mo floor · Above $12K/mo → flat 4%
// Apple Search Ads · cluster board
// cluster · budgeting
brand · defensive$28 CPT · 7.2% TTR
category · high intent$41 CPT · 4.8% TTR
competitor · displace$62 CPT · 2.9% TTR
today tab · editorial$0.19 CPM · scoped
product page · leaver$18 CPT · 9.4% TTR
↳ Each cluster → dedicated CPP · SKAN conversion value 3
1:1
CPP per cluster
no orphan traffic
48h
Bid review cadence
on top 20% of spend
≤7d
Creative rotation
for underperformers
0%
Media markup
billed to you by Apple
// Campaign structures

What we actually run on this channel.

Every structure below maps to a decision your finance team should have a view on — not a template we run because the platform recommends it.

Structure · 01

Search Results

Bid on branded, competitor and category-intent keywords. Match types tuned per cluster; negatives updated weekly.

Structure · 02

Search Tab

Awareness placement for high-volume intents where impression share is the win metric, not tap-through.

Structure · 03

Today Tab

Editorial-adjacent placement — creative-led. Only run when a CPP or event beat justifies the cost.

Structure · 04

Product Page

Bottom-of-funnel — capture users leaving a competitor listing. Paired with a comparison-shaped CPP.

// The playbook

How we take this channel from zero to compound.

Same four-beat wave as our organic practice. Nothing about paid earns a different rhythm.

Wk 1

Cluster & CPP map

We map every keyword cluster to a Custom Product Page. If a cluster has no CPP, we brief one before spending on it.

Wk 2

Launch discovery

Broad + exact structures on the top 3 clusters. Learn-mode budget explicitly scoped.

Wk 3–8

Compound

Weekly bid + negative reviews. Creative rotated when tap-through drops below cluster mean.

Wk 9+

Read into organic

Search Match data pushed back into keyword-strategy briefs. Paid signal informs organic metadata.

// Creative cadence
  • Every keyword cluster ships with a matching Custom Product Page — screenshots, promo text, preview video.
  • Creative refreshed on a 6-week rotation minimum, or sooner if tap-through falls below the cluster's rolling mean.
  • Underperforming CPPs are killed at 21 days, not left running as a hedge.
// Measurement
  • Tap-through, install-per-tap, and cost-per-acquisition tracked per keyword cluster, not just per campaign.
  • iROAS reported via SKAdNetwork + AdAttributionKit with a written note on postback confidence.
  • Weekly written read + monthly board-ready deck.
// Guardrails
  • We only run Apple Search Ads for accounts on ASO Manager, Head of App Growth, or Director tier — paid without organic footprint burns cash.
  • Every campaign maps to a CPP. No orphan traffic to your default product page.
  • Media spend billed to you directly by Apple — we never touch client cash.
// Questions

Questions we get about this channel.

Can you run Apple Search Ads without ASO on retainer?+

We prefer not to. If you insist, we scope one — but with a 6-month unit-economics forecast showing why organic-first would have been cheaper. That report is free.

How is 4% different from 10–15% agency fees?+

Our margin is on the strategy layer, not on your media buy. Charging 15% of spend creates an incentive to spend more. 4% removes it. If spend should drop this month, we'll tell you.

Do you handle SKAN/AdAttributionKit setup?+

Yes — conversion value schema, postback config, and a written note on which decisions are safe to make from the data.

How many keywords do you launch with?+

10–30 per cluster, 3–5 clusters at launch. Small enough to read weekly, wide enough to find winners. We scale after week two.

// Continue reading
// Free audit

Want us to scope paid UA on this channel?

45-minute audit. You leave with a written unit-economics read on whether this channel is worth your next dollar of spend.

30 seconds. No commitment.