Introduction There are approximately 2 million apps out there on the App Store. Visibility and 

discoverability in this huge ocean of apps may be quite a challenge for app marketers. 

Apple Search Ads has emerged as a tool to reach out to potential highly motivated 

users at the exact moment they do the app searching. Apple claims remarkable 

performance of its paid network: a 50% average conversion rate and a 65% 

download rate that results from a search on the App Store. 

But how does Apple Search Ads cope with user acquisition in practice? To get the real 

picture, we’ve researched the accounts linked to our SearchAdsHQ platform. The 

benchmarks below are based on the data obtained from July 2018 to February 

2019: 

In this edition, you’ll find the recent Tap-through and Conversion rates, as well as 

average Cost per Tap and Cost per Acquisition by categories and storefronts. We’ve 

also compared them with Apple Search Ads benchmarks of the previous year and 

with the benchmarks from other ad networks.  

If you want to know how we can help you streamline your Apple Search Ads 

experience, get in touch with us at hello@searchadshq.com. 

SearchAdsHQ for Apple Search Ads If you are interested in acquiring users right on the App Store, visit our blog for 

in-depth materials on Apple Search Ads – handy tips, best practices, case

studies,  insights and more.   

Contents

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) ........................................................................................... 4 

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) ……………………………………………………………………. 9 

How to boost your Apple Search Ads conversion rates? 

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) …………………………………………………………………………... 13 

Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA) ..................................................................................... 17 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts ……………………………………………... 20 

Key Takeaways ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25 

................................ 11

 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) Our team has made research to reveal that the current average TTR on Apple Search 

Ads is about 6.06%. Compare: last year the average conversion rate from impressions 

to taps hovered around 7.11% . 

The decrease in the TTR average by approximately 1% suggests that the audience 

becomes more immune to promoted apps. Inst ead of tapping on a blue-tinted ad, they 

tend to focus on organic search results. 

Is the TTR of 6.06% poor or healthy? To figure it out, let’s compare Apple Search Ads 

conversion from impressions to taps with the same benchmarks for other mobile app 

ad channels. 

In the chart below we’ve compared Tap/Click-through rate averages for AppleSearch 

Ads and the two most popular ad channels – Google Ads and Facebook . The data are 

taken from the Paid Media Benchmark Report Q4 2018 made up AdStage. 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) 4

 

It’s vital to make a quick point here: while Apple Search Ads is used exclusively to 

promote apps, Google Ads and Facebook embrace a vast majority of campaign types, 

including but not limited to app campaigns. 

It turns out that Apple Search Ads is the most high-performing ad channel in terms 

of conversion from impressions to taps (clicks). The runner up is Google Search, but it 

lags well behind, which makes the Apple’s ad network worth trying. 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) 5

 

Now that we know the average Apple Search Ads TTR, let’s dig into the details. Below 

is the two charts showing the average TTR by categories in 2019 and 2018: 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) 6

 

It seems obvious that in 2019 the highest average Tap-throug h rates are observed in                           

Health & Fitness, Productivity , and Utilities . All average TTRs in these three                       

categories are above 9%, which is around 3% greater than the average (6.06%). 

Conversely, t he lowest TTR values are in Travel , Social Networking and Games . In                         

these categories the rate hardly reaches 5%. 

What are the possible reasons for such a distribution? 

Firstly, there’s a correlation between TTR and competition for generic search                     

terms . 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) 7

 

When users enter discovery, rather than branded search terms on the App Store, it                           

gets harder for them to find what they really need. Users are matched to irrelevant                             

ads, which they don’t tap on, hence low TTR. There are categories where generic                           

discovery-centric search terms prevail, for example Games , Travel and Social                   

Networking , and to top it off, these categories are crowded with multiple apps. 

According to Statista, Gaming is the most popular App Store category by share of                           

available apps. Multiple users competing for discovery-centric search terms brings                   

TTR of the category down – it’s 4.69% this year, which is below the previous year’s                               

rate of 6.60%. 

Health & Fitness , on the contrary, is where apps cover highly specific purposes and                           

users enter more specific search terms. To discover what they need, they may play                           

around with ‘calorie counter’, ‘period tracker’, ‘ weight loss’, ‘ home workout ’, and a big                         

bunch of other search terms related to the industry. Specific keywords bring in highly                           

relevant users, who are likely to tap on your ad. High TTR comes as an outcome –                                 

$10.07. 

Another important thing that makes a difference for TTR is the usage of branded                           

keywords of your competitors .  

The recent study by AppTweak shows that top 15 keywords in the US are branded ,                             

except for “games”. In turn, AppsFlyer has revealed that 66% of all searches on the                             

App Store include the name of an app or a publisher, meaning that people use search                               

to look for something specific, rather than for discovery. 

When you use your competitors’ branded keywords in your Apple Search Ads                       

campaigns, your are more likely to get a low TTR. 

Average Tap-through Rate (TTR) 8

 

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) In the context of Apple Search Ads, conversion happens when users download the                         

app upon tapping on an ad on the App Store. Apple claims an average conversion rate                               

of around 50%. Our research has revealed a very close value – 49.69% . 

Next, we’ve compared Apple Search Ads with other popular ad networks. Please note                         

that the data for Facebook and Google Ads are overall average benchmarks: 

Sources: SearchAdsHQ , WordStream , WordStream 

Apple Search Ads is an outright winner. It offers more than 5 times as many 

conversions than its closest rival – Facebook.  

The thing is users who find themselves on the App Store are already extremely 

motivated. The majority of them (70%) utilize the store to search for apps. When this 

high-intent audience comes across a prime spot ad, there are good chances that your 

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) 9

 

app be discovered. 

Now, let’s have a closer look at the categories individually:

10 out of 16 categories under research maintain their Conversion rates above the                         

average. Lifestyle is the top performer, with the highest CVR across the categories –                           

66.24%. Music and Photo & Video have also shown a high Conversion rate – 64.37%                             

and 56.32% respectively. 

Now, let’s focus on the bottom of the rating. Social Networking and Travel have                           

shown CVR under the average of 49.69%. These two categories had the lowest TTRs                           

as well, but it’s not a tendency. 

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) 10

 

The truth is that high TTR doesn’t necessarily lead to a high conversion from taps to                               

downloads. For example, Lifestyle has shown the highest CVR while it’s TTR is not                           

the highest. Users may tap on your ad but not download your app. So, before you run                                 

Apple Search Ads, it makes sense to optimize your product page with A/B testing . 

How to boost your Apple Search Ads conversion rates?

Conversion rates can be optimized at any funnel stage, including pre- and post-install                         

events. For now, we’ve gathered a few tips for you to boost your Apple Search Ads                               

TTR as well as conversion from impressions to downloads and from taps to                         

downloads (CVR): 

● Run A/B tests of your creatives. Apple Search Ads creates your ad based on the                           

metadata, video and imagery you’ve provided in your listing. It makes sense to                       

modify these app page elements to achieve much better results. This is exactly                       

what ZIMAD did by A/B testing screenshots. The renewed visuals have triggered                     

a 32% conversion increase.

● Make your ad more relevant to user search queries using Apple’s creative sets.                       

They allow to play around with 10 screenshots and 3 video previews, and align                         

them with particular keyword themes or audiences.

● Use segmentation. By turning off irrelevant segments you can focus on those                     

that convert, which takes your TTR, CVR and Direct Installs to a higher level.

● Mind localization. By modifying your app’s metadata for another market you                   

improve the relevance of your ads to the audience. For an inspiration, explore                       

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) 11

 

how ZiMAD achieved a 36% conversion rate by adjusting their screenshots for                       

the Japanese storefront. 

● Make your app’s rating shine. Positive experience shared by users encourages                   

other users to give your app a try.

Average Conversion Rate (CVR) 12

 

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) Let’s move on with the cost metrics. 

On the Apple’s ad platform, advertisers pay whenever users tap on their ads. This 

pricing model suggests that Cost per Tap (CPT) is one of the most important Apple 

Search metrics to keep in mind. 

The recent average CPT across all the categories hovers around $0.95 . It has slightly 

increased against last year’s average of $0.84 . Now let’s look at Cost per tap by 

categories and compare the recent figures with those we had last year:  

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) 13

 

Sports and Finance turned out the most expensive categories with the average CPTs 

at $4.16 and $3.73 respectively. Interestingly, Cost per Tap for “Sports” has grown 

more than four times against last year, which hints at the increased competition 

inside the category. 

As for Finance , the bid cost has grown from $2.81 up to $3.73. In “The State of 

Mobile 2019” report , AppAnnie points at the “demand for both banking and fintech 

apps” and the increased engagement with retail banking brands. It comes as no 

surprise that the Finance category gets more competitive and expensive. 

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) 14

 

The most popular App Store categories by share of available apps – Games and 

Business – have both seen a boost in their CPTs, at $1.40 and $2.08 respectively. 

Overall, is the average cost per tap of $0.95 high, low or reasonable? To figure it out, 

it makes sense to compare Apple Search Ads with other networks. Please note that 

the CPCs for Facebook and Google are not the costs of mobile user acquisition, but 

the overall average values: 

Sources: SearchAdsHQ , WordStream , WordStream 

It turns out that you incur the highest cost when users click on your ad in Google 

Search – $2.69. The network can be extremely expensive, charging up to $50 per one 

click in such industries as law and insurance due to high LTV of the attracted 

customers.  

Apple Search Ads gives way to Google Display Network, but overall charges a 

relatively low cost per one tap. The price of competitive keywords can be 

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) 15

 

considerably higher in reality, but overall, remember that this is a premium 

advertising channel which connects you to already interested users.   

Average Cost per Tap (CPT) 16

 

Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA) CPA is the average cost of acquiring a new user via a specific ad channel. In Apple 

Search Ads, by acquiring we mean tapping a “Get” button on an App Store product 

page. 

In 2019, the average Apple Search Ads CPA is approximately $1.90 , which is slightly 

bigger than last year – $1.76 . The increased average demonstrates that the App 

Store is becoming a more and more competitive marketplace. 

As we did with the metrics above, let’s look at the categories and compare their CPAs 

with those of the previous year:

Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA) 17

 

Just as last year, Finance and Sports are the most expensive categories. Note the 

dramatic growth in their CPAs against 2018: the cost of one acquired customer in 

Finance has almost doubled (increase from $5.91 to $10.33), while in Sports it has 

grown four times (from $2.00 up to $8.14). The boosted CPAs point to a tougher 

competition within the categories. 

Publishers in “Music” have to pay less than the others – $0.26. It’s not the most 

popular category (only 2.48% of all apps on the App Store), which, along with a 

relatively low APRU, decreases competition and thus brings down the cost per 

acquired user. 

Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA) 18

 

Now let’s see how advertising platforms differ in terms of Cost per Acquisition. We’ve 

gathered the average CPAs for Facebook , Twitter and Instagrams (2006-2018) and 

measured them against Apple Search Ads: 

Source: BusinessofApps 

Twitter allows to acquire one user for $2.53 , which is the highest cost. Instagram Ads 

(owned by Facebook) are a bit cheaper – $2.23 per each customer. 

Facebook and Apple Search Ads are at $1.80 and $1.90 respectively. Although the 

acquisition costs very close, the Apple’s ad network brings in more high LTV users in 

comparison to Facebook. On the other hand, Facebook outperforms Apple Search 

Ads in terms of the audience reach, being the biggest social network with over 1.4 

billion monthly active users.

Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA) 19

 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts The benchmarks you’ll find below have been generated for 13 storefronts . The data 

underlying the report have been collected before the introduction of 46 new Apple Search 

Ads Storefronts, which happened on 27 March, 2019 . As of today, there are 59 locations 

where advertisers can run their campaigns on the Apple’s ad network. 

Let’s start with the conversion from impressions to taps. With the average Apple Search Ads 

TTR at around 6.06% , higher rates are observed for Germany , the US and Canada : 

Overall, Tap-through rates are not that scattered, ranging from 4.99% in New Zealand to 

6.52% in Germany. 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts 20

 

Low TTRs in Asian storefronts can be attributed to cultural and language peculiarities. In the                             

Japanese storefront, there’s a 5.44% TTR; in South Korea , it’s 5.72%. Asian markets are                           

hard to enter for western companies. Breaking into them means that they have to                           

considerably rethink app positioning towards peculiarities of a specific region. 

However, we can see the same low impression-to-tap conversions for Italy , Spain and                         

France . It is likely that publishers used English keywords and poorly localized campaigns for                           

these storefronts. 

Such a low TTR in the New Zealand storefront can be attributed to our data sample and a                                   

relatively limited number of campaigns run for the storefront. 

When in comes to Conversion from taps to downloads (CVR), the range is much wider: 

With the average at 49.69%, CVR ranges between 33.22% (Japan) and 54.89% (the 

UK). 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts 21

 

Compare the data with the TTR chart above: obviously, high TTR doesn’t always turn 

into high CVR. For example, while Tap-through rate in the German storefront was 

the highest of all, its Conversion rate is below the average. And conversely, New 

Zealand was at the bottom of the TTR chart, but CVR in this storefront was quite 

high. 

Such a situation suggests that taps don’t necessarily lead to an app install. The                           

product page has to be A/B tested and optimized to encourage users to tap “Get”. 

Overall, we can observe a higher conversion rate for English-speaking locations, while                       

the two Asian storefronts – Japan and South Korea , as well as Spain , France and                             

Italy lag behind. Again, it is likely to result from poor localization of metadata                           

elements, as well as the usage of keywords that haven’t been properly localized for a                             

particular storefront. 

When it comes to Cost-per tap (CPT), the US storefront appeared to be the most                             

expensive and competitive one. It’s the only location which exceeded t he average                       

CPT of approximately $0.95. Australia and Canada are also competitive, with CPTs                       

at $0.88 and $0.83 respectively: 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts 22

 

Various storefronts differ in terms of average Costs per Acquisition. Look at the                         

breakdown of CPAs by locations: 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts 23

 

Let’s remind that the average CPA is around $1.90 . Again, the US considerably 

exceeds the average ($2.13), making it the most expensive storefront. 

Pay attention to the runner up. Japan is the second most expensive storefront after 

the US, with CPA at $1.91. Low CVR leads to high CPA – this holds true for the 

Japanese storefront. It’s likely that poor localization lowered the Conversion rate, as 

well as Tap-through rate, which lead to a high cost per one user attracted. 

Apple Search Ads Benchmarks by Storefronts 24

 

Key Takeaways 

1. The average Apple Search Ads TTR – around 6.06% – is about 1% smaller than

last year, which points at the strengthened resistance of users to ads. In

comparison to Facebook and Google Ads, Apple's ad network boasts a higher

Tap-through rate.

2. Our research has revealed the average Сonversion rate of 49.69% , with the

highest rates in the Lifestyle (66.24%), Music (64.27%) and Photo & Video

(56.32%) categories. Such conversion rates result from highly motivated users

that come to the App Store to search for apps.

3. Think about app page optimization, because it turns out that high TTR doesn’t

necessarily mean high Conversion rate.

4. The average CPT across all the App Store categories is approximately $0.95 ,

which is greater than last year ($0.84). The most expensive categories are

Sports ($4.16) and Finance ($3.73).

5. The average Apple Search Ads CPA is around $1.90 , which exceeds last year’s

average of $1.76, probably due to the fact that the market gets more mature.

The most expensive categories in terms of Cost per Acquisition are Finance

($10.33) and Sports ($8.14).

6. Tap-through rates by storefronts are not scattered, ranging between 4.99%

in New Zealand and 6.52% in Germany.

7. Conversion rates by storefronts range between 33.22% (Japan) and 54.89%

(the UK).

Key Takeaways 25

 

8. Higher CVRs and TTRs are observed in English-speaking storefronts . The

two Asian locations – Japan and South Korea , as well as Spain , France and

Italy lag behind, which is probably caused by cultural and language

peculiarities and poor localization.

9. The US appeared to have the biggest CPT and CPA as competitive storefront.

10. Japan is the second most expensive storefront after the US, with a high CPA

at $1.91 resulting from low CVR and TTR. Western publishers have to rethink

its their brand positioning in Asian markets and localize campaigns accordingly.

Our team hopes you’ll find our Apple Search Ads benchmarks handy in running your 

campaigns.  

Please keep in mind that the benchmarks above represent aggregated data from the 

accounts linked to our SearchAdsHQ platform . So, the values do not illustrate the entire 

industry trends, but can serve as a reference to improve your user acquisition strategy.   

Key Takeaways 26