Postbacks

What are Postbacks

Postbacks, also called callbacks, are exchange of informations between servers that happens when an in-app event or app install occurs. It notifies the developer in real-time about installs and user activity. Doing so ensures that developers know strategies that work or do not work and optimize their ads accordingly.

How do Postbacks work

Advertisers need to set up some triggers in an app to track user behavior. An ad network must integrate with a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) to do this. The ad network must then share the URLs for different Postbacks with the MMP. The ad network must request a callback for each action it wishes to track. Requesting a callback might overload the app's internal servers and affect its performance.

Types of Postbacks

The two main types of Postbacks are as follows.

1. Install Postbacks

   These triggers are sent when a user installs an app. It can be used to track new users and other parameters like Cost Per Install (CPI), media source, device type, and more. Publishers can also get more intricate and specific data with callbacks about their users.

2. In-App Event Postbacks

   This Postbacks is triggered when a user completes an action within the app that the publisher wishes to track. This includes making a purchase or completing a level. This Postbacks can be used to generate in-depth reports on how users interact with an app in real-time and help measure app performance. Some events can be tracked without a trigger and these events are called app open events.

   Some in-app events that can be easily tracked with this exchange of information are as follows.

   • Screen views: A screen view is registered when a user opens a new screen or scrolls through it in the app. These views can help track the way users move through an app and understand the screens that are popular.
   • Clicks: Clicks are registered when a user taps on an element in the app like a link, an ad, or a button. This helps measure click-through rates (CTR) with ease.
   • Form submissions: Postbacks for this are triggered when a user submits a form. These submissions help track the way users complete specific in-app actions.

Importance of Postbacks

• Identify pitfalls: Callbacks essentially help track the way users function within an app. So, by detecting possible churn rates due to technical or other issues, publishers can spot pain points and rectify them. This will in turn help acquire more users.
• Ad fraud prevention: MMPs have mechanisms that can easily detect and prevent invalid traffic or clicks. This helps prevent revenue loss significantly. Additionally, ad networks will have security tokens to avoid fake callbacks.