Glossary · Updated Sep 27, 2026

Deep linking and attribution, defined

Short, plain definitions of the terms that come up when a link has to open an app, survive an install, and tell you which campaign earned it.

AdAttributionKit: AdAttributionKit is Apple's successor to SKAdNetwork: a privacy-preserving framework that reports which ad campaign drove an install or re-engagement, without identifying the user.
Android App Links: Android App Links are https deep links verified against your domain, so tapping one opens your app directly instead of the browser or an app chooser.
Attribution window: An attribution window is the period after a click (or an ad view) during which an install can still be credited to it.
Deep linking: Deep linking is sending a user who taps a link to a specific screen inside a mobile app, rather than to the app's home screen or a web page.
Deferred deep linking: Deferred deep linking carries a link's destination through an app install, so a new user who taps a link, installs the app and opens it lands on the screen the link pointed to.
Google Play Install Referrer: The Google Play Install Referrer is an Android API that gives an app the referrer attached to the Play Store link it was installed from, so the install can be matched to the click exactly.
Mobile attribution: Mobile attribution is the process of matching an app install — and the in-app events that follow it — back to the click, campaign and channel that produced it.
Mobile measurement partner (MMP): A mobile measurement partner (MMP) is an independent service that attributes app installs and in-app events across all your ad networks and channels, so you have one source of truth instead of each network's own count.
Probabilistic attribution: Probabilistic attribution matches an install to a click by comparing device and network characteristics both events carried, when no identifier passes through the store to link them directly.
Self-attributing network (SAN): A self-attributing network (SAN) is an ad platform that attributes installs from its own ads inside its own platform, rather than accepting a third-party tracking link — Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat are the usual examples.
SKAdNetwork: SKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-preserving attribution framework for iOS ads: instead of identifying the user, iOS sends the ad network a signed, delayed postback saying a campaign produced an install, with a limited conversion value.
Smart link: A smart link is a single URL that resolves differently depending on the device that opens it — into the installed app, to the App Store or Google Play, or to a web page — while carrying the same destination through every path.
Universal Links: Universal Links are Apple's way of deep linking with ordinary https URLs: a link on a domain associated with your app opens the app when it's installed, and the web page when it isn't.