Unveiling the Secrets to Apple Ads Success: A Journey to Stable Growth and Higher ROI
The Power of Intent: Unlocking Apple Search Ads' Potential
Imagine a room filled with app marketers, eager to unlock the mysteries of Apple Search Ads. Stepping onto the stage, Viktor Orlov, a seasoned expert, began with a humble admission. Two years ago, his workshop had overcomplicated things, focusing too much on theory and not enough on practical guidance. But today, he's here to set the record straight.
The Unfashionable Truth: Apple Search Ads' Enduring Strength
In a market obsessed with the latest trends, Orlov dares to go against the grain. He asserts that Apple Search Ads remains one of the strongest acquisition channels in mobile, and the reason is not what you might expect. It's not about efficiency, automation, or scale. It's all about intent.
Search is an explicit expression of intent. When a user types a keyword into the App Store, they're already close to making a decision. "You're working with direct search intent," Orlov emphasizes. "This gives you the highest purchase intent across your entire marketing mix."
Stability Through Intent: A Different Kind of Advantage
This intent creates a unique stability. Prices fluctuate less drastically compared to social channels. Overnight volume collapses are rare. While creative fatigue exists, it's not the primary constraint. Apple Search Ads rewards correctness and relevance over novelty.
However, the channel hasn't evolved to become easier to manage. There are still no native post-install integrations or meaningful automation. Everything that matters is manual, which is why discipline is crucial.
The Power of Control: A Necessary Discipline
Instead of starting with bids or budgets, Orlov emphasizes structure. The default approach of bundling keywords into a single ad group tied to a single bid might seem efficient, but it's not. Single-keyword ad groups might feel tedious at first, but they provide a clear path to understanding and control.
"The more control you have, the better it works," Orlov asserts. "Control is the biggest success factor in Apple Search Ads." Control enables relevance, and relevance is what determines whether Apple allocates impressions to your ads.
Competing with the Invisible: Understanding the Real Opponent
When Orlov asked the audience about their biggest competitors in Apple Search Ads, the answers were predictable: other advertisers, big brands, aggressive bidders. But he had a different perspective. "The most important competitor is the number one organic result," he revealed.
Apple Search Ads auctions are not isolated battles. Paid ads compete directly with organic listings for attention, credibility, and clicks. If the top organic result is more relevant than your ad, Apple has little incentive to show your ad frequently, regardless of your bid.
The Quiet Governor: IPM and Its Impact on Scale
The heart of Orlov's talk was not about familiar metrics like CPI or ROAS. It was about IPM: installs per thousand impressions. IPM is a hidden gem, a metric that Apple doesn't expose directly but uses as a core component in its auction system.
"Apple doesn't use IPM directly," Orlov explained, "but it uses its components to decide who deserves impressions." Below a certain threshold, scale stalls. Impression share plateaus. But cross that threshold, and something magical happens. Impression allocation accelerates, volumes grow faster than spend, and CPIs start to fall instead of rise.
Internally, Orlov describes this threshold as an "invisible wall." The auction doesn't reward incremental improvements evenly; it rewards relevance disproportionately.
Relevance Engines: The Power of Custom Product Pages
Improving IPM is about changing what users see, not just what teams bid. This is where Orlov gets direct. "Custom Product Pages are the most powerful tool in Apple Search Ads," he declares, "and almost nobody uses them properly."
Despite Apple expanding the limit to 70 Custom Product Pages per app, most teams treat them as an afterthought. Design resources are scarce, roadmaps are full, and gains are assumed to be marginal. But in practice, CPPs are where relevance becomes tangible. Matching messaging, visuals, and onboarding flows to specific keyword intent changes how the auction evaluates your ad. Conversion improves, IPM rises, and impression share follows.
Deep links extend this logic, sending users directly to the feature or offer they searched for, shortening the path to value and signaling alignment to Apple's system.
Pricing: An Outcome, Not a Lever
On auction pricing, Orlov challenges the idea that competition alone drives CPI. For apps with in-app purchases, Apple has near-perfect visibility into revenue, and keyword prices reflect average profitability across the category. For apps without IAPs, Apple estimates, and it does so accurately.
"If a keyword is not profitable for you," Orlov says, "it means it's profitable for someone else." Apple Search Ads functions as a performance benchmark. When campaigns fail, it's often because the execution doesn't match the economics of the category, not because the channel is broken.
The Missing Layer: Knowledge and Understanding
Tools have converged, offering similar features and promises. But understanding, Orlov argues, is where the real difference lies. "The knowledge is the most important factor," he says. "Understanding how the auction works is what creates results."
Across various case studies spanning fintech, utilities, mobility, and subscriptions, a consistent pattern emerges. When relevance improves, prices fall. When IPM rises, scale follows. Category matters less than execution.
A Predictable System: Apple Search Ads' Honest Rewards
Apple Search Ads is not forgiving, but it is predictable. Teams that learn to align with its incentives are rewarded not with tricks, but with compounding performance. It doesn't reward haste or shortcuts. It rewards teams willing to treat it as a system worth understanding.
Orlov's argument is not that Apple Search Ads is easy, but that it's honest. If results disappoint, the feedback is there, embedded in impression share, relevance, and conversion. The work might not be glamorous, but it's difficult to fake, and for teams willing to engage properly, that's a powerful advantage.
Watch the full recording to delve deeper into Viktor's insights. You can also explore all the sessions from Business of Apps Berlin 2025 here.
