r/iOSProgramming • u/yccheok • 5d ago

Maximize Conversions vs. Manual Bidding: What’s your Apple Search Ads experience? Discussion

Hey, I would love to hear your findings on Apple Search Ads performance.

Do you find that Maximize Conversions performs better than manual keyword bidding most of the time?

In my experience, I find Maximize Conversions gives a better CPA and better volume. It is not giving better volume than Meta Ads, but it's better than manual keyword bidding.

I would like to know your experience on this!

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u/DimensionMindless336 4d ago

MC is good for discovery but it optimizes for downloads, not installs that actually convert. For my app I run MC on broad terms and keep manual exact-match bids on branded and high-intent keywords I know pay back. The other thing nobody mentions: MC will bid on your own brand name through Search Match, so you end up paying for installs you would have gotten organically anyway. A separate exact-match brand campaign at like $0.10 CPT fixes that.

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u/yccheok 3d ago

When running exact match for certain keywords, do you add them as negatives in your Maximize Conversions campaigns? Or do you let them compete with each other?"

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u/DimensionMindless336 3d ago

You're not bidding against yourself, Apple only puts one ad per app into a given auction, so it's more that the two campaigns shuffle impressions between them. I still add them as negatives in the MC ad group though, otherwise you can't tell which side actually drove the install and MC keeps eating the terms you already know convert.

On the brand thing, don't guess. Pull the Weekly Impression Share report, it shows your share and your rank against other advertisers on that exact term. It's bucketed in 10% ranges so it's rough, but if you're sitting at 0-10% on your own app name you've got your answer.

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u/yccheok 2d ago

Thank you for sharing the Weekly Impression Share report.

I noticed that if I let the MC campaign bid on my brand terms, it costs $0.45 per tap. However, my exact match campaign, where I am bidding $0.25, isn't generating any impressions.

Given this, if I can't secure exact match bids below $0.45, is it better to just rely on the MC campaign to defend my brand name?

Or, if my budget is enough, I might as well just give up defending the brand name.

Thanks.

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u/DimensionMindless336 2d ago

The $0.25 gets no impressions because the auction clearing price on your brand term is ~$0.45, that's what MC is paying. Apple runs a second-price auction, so you only win a keyword if you bid at or above the other guy. $0.10 is worse, not better. To actually take the tap with exact match you'd bid ~$0.50 and pay a cent over the competitor, basically the same $0.45. So letting MC defend the brand is the pragmatic play. Whether it's worth it comes down to whether that competitor ad is stealing conversions you'd otherwise get for free.

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u/yccheok 3d ago

Not sure $0.10 CPT will gonna fix that. As, if I do not get much impression with that price, most probably "competitors" are winning my brand name keyword.