How are Quick Links different from Ad Links?

Functionality

Functionally, Quick Links and Ad Links work the same -- they both attribute in the same fashion (outside of the iOS ATT restrictions -- Quick Links are “owned” links so these can still attribute downstream data) and route users in the same way to the destinations set up on the links.

Ad Links are primarily designed for working with ad partners, so they’ll include a $3p value that designates the specific ad partner, and for integrated partners, they’ll include a much longer URL string that includes macros for the partner to pass through dynamic values like campaign name, etc. Additionally, Ad Links will automatically implement ATT-compliant behavior on iOS. This is not the case for Quick Links.

Quick Links are for “owned” placements (non-paid-ads use cases in general) and cases where the link may be visible, and Ad Links are designed for paid ads where users aren’t expected to see the link itself as well as where dynamic data is expected to be passed.

For a list of what Branch Link to use for a specific use case, see below:

Access

Branch Ad Link creation is included in our Engagement Essentials product tier, while access to the Quick Links API is limited to Engagement Pro customers.