Ad Networks, Ad Exchanges and Ad Services: What is the best SDK to use to track mobile conversions, specifically installs?

Most developers who track conversions tend to do it from the server side, especially when interacting with multiple ad networks.  You certainly could implement all of the sdk's, a consolidated one or implement the call out to the ad networks without the sdk's.  The issue with doing it within the app is the pain every time you add/remove an ad network or need to change the code.  You would then need to update your app, set it for approval and all your users will be prompted for updates even though there is no new functionality for them to see. Edit/Addition:  With the uncertainty over Apple's approval of UDID, it probably makes even more sense to do it server side so that if Apple changes its policies, you can react quicker.

http://www.mobileapptracking.com and http://www.adxtracking.com Both the services don't rely on the UDID, they have their own device fingerprinting method. The only drawback is that because you don't know what the device fingerprint consists of, you will never know if it has reported accurately or not. Also, these won't support featurephones. There are other interesting mechanisms of install tracking by source. But that's a separate question.

As an ad network (MdotM), we have a lot of visibility into comparing various mobile install tracking solutions - we work with them all. The most feature-filled tracker with the most responsive customer support is Tune (formerly HasOffers / MAT), but they're expensive. Other good ones are Ad-X (Criteo), Kochava, Apsalar, Adjust, and AppsFlyer. In terms of market share (from MdotM's view), Tune's number 1 w/ over half the market, Ad-X is 2 w/ about 20%, then AppsFlyer, Kochava, Appcoachs (China-based), and Adjust each have under 10%. Russell is right about going server-side - it's much more convenient to switch / update if you have your app communicate w/ your own server and integrate w/ the tracking company server-to-server. But that depends on whether you have the resources you have to do it.

Mobile app marketers/developers market their apps through a number of acquisition sources. Each acquisition source typically requires the addition of a SDK to the mobile app to report download metrics. Check out http://www.affle.com which is so far the best SDK in the market to track mobile conversions, downloads, specific installs etc. http://maas.affle.com/ is the largest mobile Ad Network. This platform is used by leading publishers and commerce companies to enhance yield from their mobile assets.Some Key Features:For Developers Flexibility to choose and integrate one or more components Track downloads, in-app stats like Page Views, Engagements, Events, Purchase Events & other Analytics Server-to-Server (S2S) Integration Process between the Application Owner Server and the Affle Platform For Ad-networks / Advertisers Can integrate their platform via HTTP API and can track the conversions across various content providers, app stores, lead engines etc. Mobile Operators, Content Providers, Lead Management Systems & Partners Perform VAS activation/lead tracking across multiple publishers, ad-networks etc. Can integrate their CMS (Content Management Systems), Platforms, Pages etc. through a simple HTTP API Publishers Can run and view campaign To get a deeper understanding of this business visit: http://maas.affle.comhttp://maas.affle.com/help-and-support/

MobileAppTracking by TUNE has the largest marketshare by far, and I believe are integrated with 400-500 networks. Ad-X is owned by Criteo (retargeting company) so may be an odd choice in my opinion, and the next two largest would be Appsflyer & Kochava (Kochava supposedly being integrated with over 900 networks).

I've been in this industry for about 5 years and have used several platforms, I would highly recommend Affle's MAAS platform  http://affle.com/ and let me tell you why , there are many great analytic tools in the market but a big problem is that they never tell us the source of the traffic, with this platform the insights are phenomenal and they help with greater customer retention. The platforms many features really help plan for the following years strategy as well

The best SDK for your app is the one which puts you across the relevant set of user base you are aiming at depending upon traffic available at various inventories. You can use multiple Ad Networks at the same time to generate higher installs but that will have an impact on your app size ultimately making it larger. Since you are particularly concerned with CPI metrics, I would recommend you Affle personally because Affle's own SDK provides you insights and will help you keep track of your installs. Its kind of solution to your problem. Not many SDK's offer similar features and specifically for the problem you have, Affle MAAS platform could help. However, you could try Flurry, AdMob etc but my advice to you will be to not opt for more than 2 SDK's and keep your app size on the lower side.

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We use Appsflyer for our apps. But I am curios about other tools. I Will listen others:)