Create an App retargeting ad set | Commerce Growth Help Center

Before you begin

Creating an app retargeting ad set in Commerce Growth follows the same overall flow as any Custom campaign ad set, but with a few steps that are unique to app campaigns. This article walks you through every step, so your ad set is set up correctly from the start.

How to create App retargeting ad set

To create an app retargeting ad set:

In Commerce Growth, open your campaign and proceed to Build ad set.
Select your dataset from the dropdown.
Enter a name for your ad set.
For your Media type, you can choose between Display and Video.
Under Objective, choose what you want your ad set to optimize for:
- Visits: drive people back to your app
- Conversions: encourage purchases or other key in-app actions
- Revenue: increase the purchase value from your app users
Under Conversion location, select either:
- iOS app: for campaigns targeting users on iPhone and iPad
- Android app: for campaigns targeting users on Android devices
Important: You can't change the conversion location after your ad set is created. If you need to run campaigns on both Operating Systems, create a separate ad set for each. You can manage them through a single campaign with an automatic budget for a smooth and optimized experience.
Once you select iOS app or Android app, Commerce Growth automatically adjusts the rest of your setup for app retargeting. Click Next to continue.
Under Audience type, choose one of the two options available for app retargeting:
- Retargeting - This is the recommended option. It uses Criteo's commerce data to reach users who've previously interacted with your app. It's broad, always-on, and consistently delivers the strongest performance for app campaigns.
- Customizable – Allows you to build a specific audience from your own contact lists or app event segments. Use this when you want to target a precise group, such as high-value users who haven't opened your app in 30 days.
Note: Prospecting and Broad Targeting are not available for app retargeting. App retargeting is designed to re-engage users who already have your app, not to find new ones.
If you select Customizable, you'll see this message: "Ensure your audience is composed of app users. Campaigns targeting non-app audiences will not deliver impressions."
This is a hard requirement, a Customizable audience that includes non-app users will prevent your ad set from delivering.
Search for an existing audience in the dropdown or click Create audience to build one now.
You can see Create an app retargeting audience, step-by-step instructions for building both audience types
Under Device, you'll see two options: Tablet and Mobile.
- Device coverage is enabled by default.
- Both are selected and recommended.
- Desktop is not available for app retargeting.

Under Environment, choose where your ads will be shown:

Option	What it means	Best for
Web and app (Recommended)	Ads appear on mobile websites and in mobile apps	Maximum reach starts here – recommended option
Web only	Ads appear on mobile websites only	If your audience is primarily web-active
App only	Ads appear inside mobile apps only	If you want to focus exclusively on in-app placements

Under Cost control, select your bid strategy and enter your target value (for example, a target cost per order).
You'll see an info card that explains: "App retargeting ad sets use the deduplication flag provided by your mobile measurement partner or directly send server-to-server."
This is how attribution works for app campaigns; your MMP is the source of truth for conversions, and Commerce Growth reports only what your MMP attributes to Criteo.
Under the Attribution method, Criteo attribution is selected. This is the correct setting for app retargeting campaigns.
Set your Frequency capping, or leave it on Automatic if you're unsure. This controls how often the same person sees your ad.
Under Delivery period, set a launch date. You can optionally add an end date or leave it to run indefinitely.
Under Budget strategy:
- Choose Delivery pacing: Optimized (recommended) or Expedited
- Choose your Renewal period (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Lifetime)
- Enter your budget amount
This step connects your MMP so it can attribute and measure the conversions driven by your app retargeting campaign.
- Under Click Tracking Parameters, you can optionally add a URL suffix or prefix to your default ad link, useful for UTM parameters or other tracking tags.
- Under Mobile measurement partner server-to-server click tracking parameter, paste in your MMP tracking URL.
  Note: This is a required field if you're using an MMP. Without it, your MMP won't be able to attribute conversions back to Criteo, which means you'll have gaps in both your MMP reporting and Commerce Growth optimization.
- Your URL will likely include macros, dynamic placeholders that are automatically filled in when your ad is served. For example, {{adsetid}} gets replaced with your ad set's unique ID once the ad set is created. Items delimited with single {} are macros handled by the MMP.
  Important: some values need to be added manually. Those parameters have names such as FILL_TOKEN_HERE and FILL_CAMPAIGN_NAME_HERE. Those values are available from the MMP dashboard.
  Note: Make sure all macros required by your MMP are included in your URL. Missing macros cause gaps in your MMP data.
  For detailed information, see Set up MMP tracking for app retargeting.
- Optionally, under Advanced settings, configure additional tracking options.
- Under Impression tracking parameters, you can optionally add an impression pixel if your MMP requires it for view-through attribution.
Review your ad set summary in the left-hand panel. Confirm:
- Conversion location is correct (iOS app or Android app)
- Audience is selected
- MMP tracking URL is filled in

Click Next to proceed to Create ad and upload your creative.
Launch your campaign.