Integration with AppsFlyer

Glossary

AppsFlyer

Mobile attribution and marketing analytics platform that enables application developers, marketers, and brands to track and measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns across various channels and devices.
Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about the platform.

Application ID

Mobile application ID, which is unique for each mobile platform (Android, iOS, etc.). The values of application ID specified in Xsolla should match the application ID in AppsFlyer’s My Apps section.
Refer to the Android documentation or Apple documentation for more information about the application ID.

AppsFlyer ID

User ID generated by AppsFlyer.

AppsFlyer web ID

Site ID in the AppsFlyer account, used during Web SDK integration with AppsFlyer and passed in the webAppId field in web events.

App Tracking Transparency (ATT)

Privacy feature introduced by Apple in iOS 14.5 and later versions, which requires applications to ask for user’s permission before tracking their data.

Customer user ID (CUID)

User ID generated and set by the app owner at the time of user registration. The СUID should be the same for the Web Shop and AppsFlyer. Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about the CUID.

Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA)

ID assigned by Apple to a user’s device. Refer to the Apple documentation for more information about the IDFA.

In-app event

User’s action within the application. Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about the in-app events.
User’s actions in Web Shop are also considered in-app events in the case of S2S integration and sent to AppsFlyer from the Xsolla back end.

Web event

User’s actions in Web Shop, which are sent from the client side of Web Shop to AppsFlyer and are necessary for the Web SDK integration.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

Average revenue that a user generates during the time they use your application. Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about the LTV.

Retargeting

Reaching out to current or past users through advertising campaigns. Refers to the strategy of engaging users who have previously interacted with your application or site.

Return on advertising spend (ROAS)

Metric that measures the effectiveness of an advertising campaign by calculating the revenue earned per unit of advertising spend.

Postback

Process of receiving data on in-app events in advertising networks. Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about the postback.

Server-to-server (S2S) token or S2S key

Token that is used to authorize S2S calls for sending event data to AppsFlyer. It’s generated on the AppsFlyer side. Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about S2S token.

AppsFlyer Dev key

The key which is used during integration of the AppsFlyer Web SDK. This key is unique for each application and is used to authorize your application in the AppsFlyer system. It’s generated on the AppsFlyer side.
Refer to the AppsFlyer documentation for more information about Dev key.

User acquisition

The process of attracting new users to a site, service, platform, or application through marketing activity.

Integration scenarios

AppsFlyer and Xsolla support the following types of integrations:

Mobile application S2S integration — allows completion of full LTV and ROAS measurement for the purchases within the application and on the Web Shop.
Xsolla sends information about purchases in Web Shop to AppsFlyer as mobile in-app events, which AppsFlyer then attributes to the number of mobile application instalments, user acquisition and re-engagement campaigns.

Web SDK integration — allows you to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of user acquisition and retargeting campaigns for attracting traffic to the Web Shop.
Web SDK integration allows assessment of how many users came to the site through a retargeting campaign and the conversion of channels leading to the site. Xsolla sends information about purchases in Web Shop to AppsFlyer as web events, which AppsFlyer attributes to the corresponding media source, campaign, advertising set, and advertisement that led the user to the purchase.

You can configure Web SDK integration with AppsFlyer to get advanced event analytics if you:

use AppsFlyer Measurement Platform and have enabled People-Based Attribution for the account
use Xsolla Site Builder

The following events are available via the Xsolla and AppsFlyer Web SDK integration:

Event	Description
`load`	Site visit event, including URL parameters that contain the source information where the user is coming from, and a AppsFlyer web ID, which is stored in a first-party cookie.
`identify`	Login event, including the AppsFlyer web ID and CUID.
`event`	Item purchase event, including the AppsFlyer web ID and CUID.

How it works

Below is a scenario of system interaction when implementing a user acquisition and retargeting campaign. The user goes through advertising banners to the Web Shop and makes a purchase. The set of events that are sent to AppsFlyer in this process allows us to see:

which users, in what quantity and from which banner came over
how much they paid
whether the retargeting campaign was effective

To track traffic sources, we recommend setting the following tracking parameters:

AppsFlyer group of parameters such as pid, c, af_c_id, af_adset, af_adset_id, af_ad, af_ad_id, to get ad-level (creative level) reporting in AppsFlyer.
Configure the pid parameter according to how you want to display each media source in AppsFlyer. For example, you can use pid=google or pid=googleadwords_int, depending on how you want to classify and track different traffic sources.

The user clicks on the advertisement campaign banner.
The user is redirected to the Web Shop, and the URL of this transition includes the AppsFlyer group of parameters, specifying from which banner and website the user was directed.
An event about the visit is sent from the client side of the Web Shop to AppsFlyer.
The user logs into the Web Shop using CUID.
The authorization event is sent to AppsFlyer.
The user makes a purchase in the Web Shop.
The purchase event is sent to AppsFlyer.

How to set up in AppsFlyer

Before you start, configure the following settings in the AppsFlyer platform:

Add an application:
1. Click Add app.
2. In the list, select the Web (PBA) platform.
3. As an application URL, specify the domain of your Web Shop, e.g., https://www.webshop.example.com/.
4. Specify an application name, e.g., Xsolla.
5. Click Add my app.

Add a bundle:
1. Click Add bundle.
2. Specify Xsolla-bundle as a name.
3. In the list of web-applications, select Xsolla that you added before.
4. Click Create bundle.

How to set up in Publisher Account

Open your project in Publisher Account.
Go to site builder using one of these methods:
- In the side menu, click Site Builder.
- In the side menu, click Integrations. In the section that opens:
  1. Click the AppsFlyer pane.
  2. In the Web SDK (Site Builder) pane, click Configure.

Select your site and click Configure.
On the Site settings tab, go to the Apps section.
In the AppsFlyer pane, click Connect.

In the AppsFlyer Dev Key field, enter the developer key. You can find this information in your account in AppsFlyer:
1. Go to the My Apps section.
2. Click View brand bundles.
3. In the line of the Xsolla-bundle brand bundle, click the copy icon in the Web dev key column.
Click Connect.

To find information about events in your account in AppsFlyer:

Go to the My Apps section.
In the Available Apps section, choose the Xsolla app and click View in PBA.

You can also see the analytics events in the Dashboards > People-Based Attribution section.

You can configure mobile application integration to get advanced event analytics if you:

have a mobile application on the Android/iOS platform
use AppsFlyer Measurement Platform
use Web Shop solution to sell in-game items

The following events are available via the Xsolla and AppsFlyer S2S integration:

Event	Description
xsolla-billing-payment	Item purchase. The event parameters contain information about a purchase.
xsolla-billing-refund	Item purchase. The event parameters contain information about a purchase.

How it works

The integration includes a bi-directional data flow between Xsolla and AppsFlyer. Below is the scenario of system interaction when a user makes a purchase.

The user (game’s player) signs up or logs in to the Android/iOS mobile application.
Your application sends a standard in-app event to AppsFlyer: af_login, af_signup or any event that contains CUID.
AppsFlyer sends a postback to Xsolla, including application ID, AppsFlyer ID and CUID.
The user logs in Web Shop using CUID.
The user makes a purchase in Web Shop.
The purchase event is sent to the Xsolla backend and matches the information received from AppsFlyer.
The Xsolla backend sends an S2S in-app event to AppsFlyer containing the AppsFlyer ID.

AppsFlyer attributes this new event, purchase, and revenue back to the media source that drove the user acquisition or the user re-engagement.

How to set up in Publisher Account

Open your project in the Publisher Account.
In the side menu, click Integrations.
Click the AppsFlyer pane.

In the Mobile app S2S integration pane, click Configure.

In the window that appears, enter the following data:
1. AppsFlyer S2S token.
2. Application IDs on publishing platforms (Android/iOS). To add a platform, click Add application ID.
Click Save.

After saving, the toggle on the AppsFlyer pane will be turned on.
To make changes to the connected integration:

Click AppsFlyer pane.
In the window that appears, make the necessary changes.
Click Save.

How to set up in AppsFlyer

In AppsFlyer, you need to:

Get an S2S token.
Activate the integration with Xsolla.

Getting S2S token

You should possess an administrator role at the AppsFlyer account to view and manage S2S tokens.
Make sure that you generate and share the S2S key (S2S token) and not the API V2 key (token) which is used for different APIs and is not relevant for this integration.

To retrieve the S2S token:

Log in to your AppsFlyer HQ account.
Go to the Account > Security Center > AppsFlyer API and S2S tokens and S2S tokens section.
In the line with the S2S token, click on the copy icon in the Token column.

If you don’t yet have the S2S token, create one.

Activating the integration with Xsolla

In your AppsFlyer HQ account, select the required Android/iOS application and go to the Collaborate > Partner marketplace section.

Find and select Xsolla in the search bar.

Click Set up integration.

On the integration tab:
1. Turn on the Activate Partner toggle.
2. For iOS applications only: set the Advanced Privacy toggle according to your privacy policy:
  - On — all events are sent to Xsolla
  - Off — only ATT consented events are sent to Xsolla

IDFA isn’t sent to Xsolla in both cases, only AppsFlyer ID and CUID are shared.

1. Leave the Default postbacks value — off (by default).
2. Turn on the In-app event postbacks toggle.
3. Configure at least one in-app event that includes login information (CUID).
4. Enter any value in the mapped to partner event field. Xsolla supports any event name.
5. Save the integration.

For successful integration, you need to send at least one of the following events: af_login, af_signup or any other in-app event that includes CUID.
CUID in AppsFlyer should be identical to the CUID in Web Shop. AppsFlyer and Xsolla match data based on CUID. Therefore, if the CUID does not match, the integration will not work.
Example of the value mismatch: The CUID in AppsFlyer is the hashed email of the user, and the CUID in Xsolla is the email in text format.
There is no need to set up other tabs: Attribution Link, Cost, Ad revenue or Permissions.

You can read more about integration settings on the AppsFlyer side in the documentation.

Event value structure

If you want to set up a specific event or if the current integration capabilities don’t cover your needs, contact your Customer Success Manager or email to csm@xsolla.com.

Item purchase

When a user makes a purchase in Web Shop, Xsolla sends the xsolla-billing-payment event to AppsFlyer. The following purchase information is passed in the event parameters:

Parameter	Description
af_content_id	Single SKU or array of SKU in the purchase.
af_quantity	Quantity of the item with corresponding SKU (one or an array).
af_revenue	Purchase amount. Discounts are included. Before taxes and fees.
af_currency	Purchase currency.

Event example with single SKU:

Copy

Full screen

Small screen

{
    "af_content_id": "test-coin",
    "af_quantity": "11",
    "af_revenue": "99.99",
    "af_currency": "USD",
    "af_purchase_currency": "USD",
    "af_receipt_id": "1234567890"
}

Event example with multiple SKU:

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Full screen

Small screen

{
    "af_content_id": ["test-coin-1", "test-coin-2"],
    "af_quantity": ["5", "60"],
    "af_revenue": "99.99",
    "af_currency": "USD",
    "af_purchase_currency": "USD",
    "af_receipt_id": "1234567890"
}

Refund

When a user initiates a payment refund, Xsolla sends the xsolla-billing-refund event to AppsFlyer. The following refund information is passed in the event parameters:

Parameter	Description
af_content_id	Single SKU or array of SKU in the purchase that has been refunded.
af_quantity	Quantity of the item with corresponding SKU (one or an array).
af_revenue	Purchase amount that has been refunded. A negative amount value is passed.
af_currency	Refunded purchase currency.

Event example with multiple SKU:

Copy

Full screen

Small screen

{
    "af_content_id": ["test-coin-1", "test-coin-2"],
    "af_quantity": ["5", "60"],
    "af_revenue": "-99.99",
    "af_currency": "USD",
    "af_purchase_currency": "USD",
    "af_receipt_id": "1234567890"
}

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Last updated: October 2, 2024

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Web Shop

Integration with AppsFlyer

Glossary

AppsFlyer

Application ID

AppsFlyer ID

AppsFlyer web ID

App Tracking Transparency (ATT)

Customer user ID (CUID)

Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA)

In-app event

Web event

Lifetime Value (LTV)

Retargeting

Return on advertising spend (ROAS)

Postback

Server-to-server (S2S) token or S2S key

AppsFlyer Dev key

User acquisition

Integration scenarios

How it works

How to set up in AppsFlyer

How to set up in Publisher Account

How it works

How to set up in Publisher Account

How to set up in AppsFlyer

Getting S2S token

Activating the integration with Xsolla

Event value structure

Item purchase

Refund