Ad relevance measures how closely an ad’s content matches the keywords or target audience’s intent. High ad relevance improves ad quality scores on platforms like Google Ads, leading to better ad placements and lower costs. Ensuring ad relevance boosts user engagement and campaign effectiveness.
Ad relevance (referred to simply as relevance in the official glossary) in Apple Search Ads is a factor impacting the probability of a search results ad being shown for user search queries on the App Store. It describes how well the ad and, consequently, an app align with the intent of a user’s search query.
Ad relevance is critical in determining which ads are displayed to users. It’s evaluated based on many factors, with the algorithm’s methodology not disclosed.
Logically, tap-through rates are strongly correlated with relevance. For example, if a user searches for “photo editing apps,” relevant ads will reflect that in the app’s title, subtitle, and creatives, such as app icons or screenshots, visible in the ad, leading to reasonable tap-through rates. Poorly aligned ads from apps seeking to target popular keywords will underperform.
This will negatively impact the ad itself and significantly influence the overall performance of Apple Search Ads campaigns. Irrelevant ads will not create conversions or in-app engagement and thus lower the app’s global key performance metrics.
Relevance is maintained in several ways:
Advertisers can improve their ad performance, increase conversions, and reduce CPT by optimizing ad relevance. By doing so, they can maximize their return on investment (ROI) and achieve their marketing goals in Apple Search Ads.
Relevance score is an experimental/in-development AI-driven parameter available in the full version of SplitMetrics Acquire and its Keyword Discovery tool (check with prod)
The free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan offers a robust, AI-driven Keyword Discovery tool to help you build an expansive pool of relevant keywords. Our automation rules allow you to pause all underperforming keywords, leading to healthy overall performance.
Additionally, the full version of our platform includes our own “Relevance score” metric that will help you evaluate keywords quickly, even while operating at scale.
To properly understand how to focus on relevance while optimizing Apple Search Ads, seek practical advice in the following articles:
