Overview
The Branch Ads Analytics Dashboard is made up of two main sections, the high-level graph at the top of the page, and the more granular table breakdown below. Each view lets you filter and compare various different in-app and web events by a set of analytics parameters associated with your Branch ad links. Whenever you create a Branch Ad Link, you'll include a campaign, channel, and a set of tags (and Branch will automatically include a feature and ad partner). These can then be used to filter resulting events in either view.
Data Limits
Cardinality Protection
Branch limits all dimensions to 40,000 values per publisher per day. This means that you can only see up to 40,000 unique campaigns, ad names, etc in the Dashboard.
If an app tries to send up > 40,000 values for a single dimension (e.g. ~campaign) in a day, then Branch stops tracking those unique values. Branch combines additional values together and bucket them under the value "Other".
Compare By Limitation
Adding ad partner, country, secondary publisher, and os in the Compare by field will cause an error in loading data into the Events/Performance Table.
Filter Bar
At the top of the page, you'll see a menu of options that applies to both the graph and table views. With the Filter Bar, you can apply attributes that will apply to both the graph and table views on this page.
You can apply the following attributes:
Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
Organic | When "Organic" is checked, unattributed data will show (attributed: false). This data is not attributed to any click or impression, and is the same as "organic" or "direct" data. |
Unique | When "Unique" is checked, these are unique to a user. For example: if 1 user clicks 100 times, it will count as 1. There is no concept of "unique revenue"; "revenue" is always the sum of all purchase events. |
Dates | This is the date range for your report. By default, the Branch Dashboard will allow you to set the date range for up to 6 months back. |
Ad Partner | Apply the Ad Partner filter to your report to only display data from specific ad partners. |
OS | Apply the OS filter to your report to only display data from specific operating systems. |
Campaign | Apply the Campaign filter to your report to only display data from specific campaigns |
Filters | Add additional filters that you apply to the report. |
Reset | Reset the report back to a blank template |
Saving
The Branch Dashboard allows you to save the state of your report after you've applied changes to your satisfaction. You can name and save your report for future use. This is helpful if you have several report types you use to analyze ads-related performance.
Sharing
Clicking the three-dot share button next to the name of your report will generate a shareable link to your report. Anyone with read access to your Branch Dashboard will be able to click the link and be directed to the report you created.
Trends Graph
Here you can see a visual breakdown of where your various in-app and web events are originating from. See the appendix for a breakdown of each event and filter type. These events can be further filtered by the various analytics tags from their originating ad campaigns.
Organic Check-Box Post iOS 14.5
For Graph View and Table View:
When the organic check-box is checked, the traffic being added to this view will include
“true direct organic traffic + misattributed first installs”.This introduces double counting with the paid-attributed opted-in installs the page displays by default.
For additional information on changes post iOS 14.5, visit our FAQ Pages
Available Compare By Dimensions for SANs
Self-Attributing Networks (SANs) do not always support all of the dimensions available in your Branch analytics. Please refer to the following table when using Compare by dimensions.
Dimension | Apple Search Ads | Snap | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feature | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
Channel | Unsupported | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
Campaign | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
Tags | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
Stage | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported |
Ad Partner | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
Secondary Publisher | Supported | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
Ad Set Name | Supported | Unsupported | Supported | Supported | Unsupported |
Ad Name | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported | Unsupported |
Creative Name | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported |
Keyword | Unsupported | Supported | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported |
Last Touch Type | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
Link ID | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported |
Country | Supported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
OS | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported | Unsupported | Supported |
Platform | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Unsupported | Supported |
Events Table
This table lets you see a more granular view of your event data. Here you can filter and compare fields while seeing a side-by-side view of your events.
Columns
You can use the three-column button on the top right of the table to customize the columns viewable in the table. You can customize your columns even further through the Column Selector.
Events within each bucket are ordered by the volume received in the past 15 days. The most relevant events for each app will always appear at top of the list. You can also pin your favorite events and metrics to always appear on top.
Note: Any event with zero volume will appear at the bottom irrespective of the event type.
Click to Install & Click to Open
Click to Install %: The percentage of attributed installs divided by clicks. Installs with "last attributed touch type" of value "IMPRESSION" are filtered out. Installs with "platform" of value "DESKTOP_WEB" and "DESKTOP_APP" are also filtered out
Click to Open %: The percentage of attributed opens divided by clicks. Opens with "last attributed touch type" of value "IMPRESSION" are filtered out. Opens with "platform" of value "DESKTOP_WEB" and "DESKTOP_APP" are also filtered out
Custom Metrics
In the column selector, you can also make your own custom metrics for more insights from your aggregated data. Formulaic calculations between event counts and aggregations are supported. Additionally, you will have access to templated calculations like Average Order Value and Customer Acquisition Cost.
Revenue and Cost
Unique to Branch Ads, the Branch Dashboard will enhance your analytics by adding cost-related parameters to your data. Through Branch's integration with specific ad partners, reports will be populated with the following analytics:
Analytics Tag | Description | Used for |
|---|---|---|
Cost | Total cost (spend) for those dimensions (analytics tags, user data, time range), regardless of cost model | Understanding the total amount spent |
Revenue | Revenue attributed to your selected filters | Calculating how much money you've gained through commerce events |
eCPI | cost / installs | Normalizing spend per install, to understand the average price of an install across networks or over time |
eCPC | cost / clicks | Normalizing spend per click, to understand the average price of an click across networks or over time |
eCPM | cost / (impressions / 1000) | Normalizing spend per thousand impressions, to understand the average price of 1000 impressions across networks or over time |
eCPA | cost / purchases [includes web and app purchases] | Normalizing spend per purchase, to understand the average price of a purchase across networks or over time |
Return On Investment (ROI) | (revenue-cost / cost) * 100 | Deriving return on investment, to understand the percentage "profit" made on ad spend |
Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) | (revenue / cost) * 100 | Deriving return on investment by understanding the percentage revenue multiple for a given unit of spend |
Unpopulated
When looking at certain dimensions (ex. country), data may come in separately as Unpopulated. This is because different dimensions come from different forms in ingestion.
Metrics like Install and Cost are ingested by can be ingested by Branch from an ad partner and it will have different dimensions.
Use this table to see what parameters are supported by which SAN.
Dimension Compatibility for Cost Aggregation
When generating cost/spend data reports, specific ad partners and dimensions associated with that ad partner will relay your data differently in the Branch Dashboard.
Dimension Type | Definition |
|---|---|
Universal Dimension | Found across all Cost/Click/Impression data sources. Adding this dimension will always yield aggregate metric data in analytics. |
Default Dimension | Found in one but not all Cost/Click/Impression data sources. When dimensions across multiple data sources are included, this data source will be included. |
Alternate Dimension | Found in one but not all Cost/Click/Impression data sources. When dimensions across multiple data sources are included (e.g. 1 Default Dimension, 1 Alternate Dimension) this data source will be included. |
Dimension | Apple Search Ads | Facebook/Meta | Google Adwords | TikTok | Snap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ad Name | Alternate Dimension: ad_id | Universal Dimension | Does not exist | Exists | Exists |
Ad ID | Alternate Dimension: ad_id | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
Creative Name | Alternate Dimension: ad_id | Universal Dimension | Does not exist | Does not exist | Exists |
Creative ID | Alternate Dimension: ad_id | Universal Dimension | Does not exist | Does not exist | Exists |
Keyword | Default Dimension: keyword | Does not exist | Does not exist | Does not exist | Does not exist |
Keyword ID | Default Dimension: keyword | Does not exist | Does not exist | Does not exist | Does not exist |
Channel | Does not exist | Does not exist | Exists | Does not exist | Does not exist |
Secondary Publisher | Does not exist | Default Dimension: secondary publisher | Exists | Does not exist | Does not exist |
Country Code | Does not exist | Alternate Dimension: geo | Does not exist | Does not exist | Does not exist |
Campaign | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Does not exist | Exists |
Campaign ID | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
Feature | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
Advertising Partner Name | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
3p | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
Ad Set Name | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
Ad Set ID | Universal Dimension | Universal Dimension | Exists | Exists | Exists |
OS | Universal Dimension | Default Dimension: secondary publisher | Does not exist | Exists | Does not exist |
Platform | Universal Dimension | Default Dimension: secondary publisher | Does not exist | Exists | Does not exist |
Adding a data source
During report creation in the Events Table and when dimensions have been selected from one data source, Branch dynamically adds new icon tooltips that will indicate a warning about incompatible dimensions.
Local Currency
Local Currency
By default, the Branch Dashboard will generate reports in USD. In order to view revenue and cost in your local currency, please enable the Local Currency setting in your Branch Dashboard's Configuration. Additional details can be found here.
Local currency support in the Branch Dashboard will allow you to analyze marketing spend and revenue in your local currency. Additionally, it will allow for direct cost data comparison with ad partners who report their spending in a currency other than the USD.
With Local Currency enabled, you will gain new analytics tags as dimensions:
Analytics Tag |
|---|
Cost in App Local Currency |
Revenue in Local Currency |
eCPA in Local Currency |
eCPC in Local Currency |
eCPI in Local Currency |
eCPM in Local Currency |
Tips and Tricks
You can export your current table view as a CSV file using the download button on the top right of the table.
The Unique checkbox on both the graph and table views allows you to restrict reports to one event of each type per user. For example, take a user who clicked an ad link, then opened the app 7 times within the attribution window for that link. With the Unique box checked, we'd report one of those opens, with it unchecked, we'd report all 7.
When an event is attributed to an ad in a CSV export,
last_attributed_touch_data_tilde_feature=paid advertisingandlast_attributed_touch_data_tilde_advertising_partner_name=ad_partner_name