App installs are the count of times a mobile app is downloaded and opened for the first time, and they are a primary volume metric in mobile user acquisition.
Definition
App installs are the count of times a mobile app is downloaded and opened for the first time, and they are a primary volume metric in mobile user acquisition. In iGaming, an install is an intermediate step, not the goal: what matters is what share of installs go on to register, verify, deposit and retain, so installs are always read alongside the downstream conversion rates rather than on their own.
Install campaigns are bought either on a cost-per-install (CPI) basis or optimised toward a post-install event such as registration or first deposit. Install quality varies enormously by source.
Incentivised installs — where the user is rewarded for installing — inflate the number without adding value, because those users rarely engage. Bot or fraudulent installs do the same.
A source delivering installs at a low CPI can be far more expensive per depositing player than a source with a higher CPI but genuine users.
In context
Attribution links each install to the source that drove it through a mobile measurement partner (MMP) — an SDK in the app that records the install and the touchpoints before it. On Android this is reliable.
On iOS, App Tracking Transparency has degraded it: most users decline the tracking prompt, so the MMP often cannot deterministically tie an install to a source and falls back on Apple's aggregated SKAdNetwork or modelled attribution. This is why iOS cost-per-FTD figures are frequently modelled rather than measured, and why buyers weight Android and web funnels more heavily where signal is fuller.
For an iGaming affiliate or operator, the useful chain of metrics runs install → registration → verified → first deposit → retained, with a cost and a conversion rate at each step. A CPI campaign at $1.20 with a 12% install-to-registration rate and a 3% install-to-deposit rate has a real cost per FTD of $40 before any account or creative costs, which may or may not be viable depending on player value.
Installs alone are a vanity number; the funnel behind them is what decides whether the spend was worthwhile.
Worked example
A CPI campaign buys installs at $1.20. Of those, 12% register and 3% make a first deposit, giving a real cost per FTD of $40. A second source offers installs at $2.00 but converts at 6% to deposit, for a $33 cost per FTD, so the more expensive installs are cheaper players and the buyer shifts budget toward them.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Browse the full iGaming & affiliate glossary — hundreds of EN/RU terms with examples.
← Back to glossary