Integrate the Google Play Install Referrer Library into your app

Make informed marketing decisions by identifying your most valuable user acquisition channels for your game. Use the Google Play Install Referrer API for a reliable way to track your apps' referral information.

By tracking referral data, you can understand which traffic sources send the most users to download your app from the Google Play store. These insights can help you make the most of your advertising spend and maximize ROI.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Link to your store listing page

Start by linking your users to your application's Google Play store page. In the URL include query params for:

  • id: The Play package name of your game
  • referrer: A string representing the referral source. This can be queried once your application is installed and running.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.package&referrer=example_referrer_source

Step 2: Query the referrer details on app startup

Once the user has completed the installation of game and launched it your app can determine the traffic source that led to the installation using the Install Referrer APIs.

Query the referrer details using InstallReferrerClient::GetInstallReferrer. In the response the same string passed into the referrer query param of your store listing page can be retrieved. The referrer details can then be attached analytics collected such as an app installed event.

auto promise = std::make_shared<std::promise<GetInstallReferrerResult>>();
install_referrer_client.GetInstallReferrer(params, [promise](GetInstallReferrerResult result) {
   promise->set_value(std::move(result));
});

auto get_install_referrer_result = promise->get_future().get();
if (get_install_referrer_result.ok()) {
   auto install_referrer = get_install_referrer_result.value().install_referrer;
   // Attribute your game's installation to an acquisition channel by including
   // the install referrer. Typically this would be done by logging an app
   // install event with an analytics library of your choice that includes the
   // `install_referrer`.
}