The problem with matching an install after the fact
Deferred deep linking has one hard step: when a brand-new install opens for the first time, figuring out which link click it came from. The app store sits between the two and passes nothing along, so most tools compare the phone that installed with the phones that recently tapped a link: same network, same OS version, same time zone and language.
That works well when the tap and the install happen on the same network. It breaks when they don't. Someone taps your link on the train, on cellular, and installs at home on Wi-Fi. The network changed, so the install can't be matched, and the new user lands on your home screen instead of the thing they tapped.
On Android, Google Play offers a better way, and LinkForty now uses it.
What's new
When a LinkForty link sends an Android visitor to Google Play, the Play URL now carries that click's id in its referrer parameter. Google Play keeps the referrer with the install and hands it to your app on first launch through the Play Install Referrer API. The SDK sends it to LinkForty, and LinkForty matches the install to that one click.
- Across networks. Tap on cellular, install on Wi-Fi: still matched.
- No guessing. The referrer names the click, so there's no score and no competing candidates. The deferred deep link reports
attributionMethod: "install_referrer"andcompetingLinks: 0. - Same rules as every other match. The click has to be on one of your workspace's links, the link has to still be live, the install has to arrive within the link's install window, and a single-use link's click still goes to one install only. If the named click fails any of these, the install is counted as organic. LinkForty doesn't fall back to a fingerprint guess, because the referrer already said which click it was.
Everything else (iOS, installs from other Android stores, sideloads) is still matched by fingerprint, exactly as before.
What you need to do
Update your SDK. These releases read the install referrer and send it with the install:
There's no setting to turn on and nothing to change in your links. The SDK waits at most 2 seconds for Google Play to answer on first launch; if it doesn't, the install is matched by fingerprint.
When it doesn't apply
The referrer only exists if the visitor went from your link to Google Play:
- iOS. Apple has no equivalent, so iPhone installs are matched by fingerprint.
- In-app browsers. Inside Instagram, Facebook and most Android webviews, LinkForty sends visitors to your web fallback first, because that gives the link a second chance to open the app. If they reach Google Play from your website instead, the referrer isn't there.
- Other stores and sideloads. No Google Play, no referrer.
How to check it's working
Look at the deferred deep link your app receives on a fresh install from Google Play. An install matched this way has attributionMethod set to install_referrer. A fingerprint match says fingerprint.
Read more in the deferred deep linking guide, which covers both ways an install is matched.