Paid conversion (attributed conversion)

How it works

When someone taps an ad and then opens your app for the first time, the attribution tool matches the two and records an attributed install. Under per-conversion billing that match adds one unit to your invoice. The same can happen when an existing user returns through a retargeting ad, if the vendor bills re-engagements.

The word "paid" can mislead. It describes a conversion you are charged for, which is not always a conversion from a paid ad. Whether installs from your own email or QR links, and each organic install, are billed depends on the vendor's terms.

When it matters

It matters whenever a price is quoted per conversion or as a yearly volume of conversions. Before you accept the figure, get the vendor's written list of which install types are billable. The table of types to ask about is in how conversion-based pricing works. Two quotes with the same unit price are only comparable when both lists match.

How it relates to attribution

A paid conversion is the attribution decision itself, turned into a billing unit. The more installs the tool can credit to a source, the more units you are billed, so the bill follows your acquisition activity. The guide linked above also explains prepaid tiers and what happens above them. The alternative unit is the data point, which counts events in place of matches.