Google App campaigns and store links
Google's app campaigns sidestep the in-app browser problem almost entirely, which is worth knowing when you compare their numbers with Meta's.
6 August 2026 by PAD team
Why they mostly avoid the problem
App campaigns are built around the store from the start. Placements in Search, Play and YouTube hand the tap to the store natively rather than opening a browser, so the redirect that breaks Meta traffic campaigns never enters the picture.
That makes their click to install ratios structurally better, and it is one reason cross-channel comparisons mislead when one channel loses taps invisibly and the other does not.
Where links still matter
- Display placements inside apps with their own browsers
- YouTube link cards opened in the YouTube WebView
- Anything routed through a landing page for a quiz or paywall preview
- Discovery campaigns pointing at web destinations
Attribution differences
Google measures installs through its own attribution rather than through store URL parameters, so ct and referrer play a smaller role here. If you run both channels, keep a naming scheme that maps between them, otherwise reports never line up.
Comparing channels honestly
Before concluding that Google outperforms Meta on installs per click, check whether the Meta side is losing taps to the browser. In our measurements, a meaningful share of taps from Meta placements needed rescuing, and none of those would have shown up as a problem in the ad reporting.
For the placements that do go through a browser, one link handles the escape.