About SKAN 4.0 and TikTok

Last updated: September 2024

SKAN 4.0 is an evolution of Apple's Store Kit Ad Network (SKAN), which introduces key changes that impact how you measure the success of your campaigns while prioritizing user privacy. For more information on SKAN 4.0 and the previous versions, refer to Apple's video from WWDC 2022 What's new with SKAdNetwork.

Benefits

Crowd Anonymity: A new approach to privacy

Tiered privacy threshold: Apple's Crowd Anonymity introduces a tiered approach to privacy. This allows Apple to selectively share data with you based on crowd anonymity tiers, providing more flexible, privacy-conscious data sharing. You will receive more relevant data without compromising user privacy, leading to better campaign optimization and user targeting.


Attribution Windows: Longer LTV

SKAN 4.0 replaces the previous rolling 24-hour attribution window with three distinct windows: 0-2 days, 3-7 days, and 8-35 days. This helps capture more signals and conversions, offering a more comprehensive picture of campaign impact. You will gain a deeper understanding of user behavior and campaign impact, empowering better decision-making and campaign optimization.


Note: While SKAN 4.0 introduces the Lockwindow feature to allow you to shorten specific attribution windows, we do not recommend its widespread use as it may cause data gaps.


Coarse-Grained Conversion Schema

To complement Crowd Anonymity, Apple introduces the Coarse-Grained Conversion Schema, offering low, medium, and high conversion values.

  • Fine-Grained Conversion Value: This value, consisting of 6 bits (64 combinations), remains available in SKAN 4.0. It offers a high level of granularity and precision for reporting conversion data.

  • Coarse-Grained Conversion Value: Coarse-Grained Conversion Value can be categorized as low, medium, or high. This value is sent within the first attribution window when fine-grained data sharing is restricted due to crowd anonymity thresholds. It also serves as the reporting method for the second and third attribution windows.

You will receive more data than in SKAN 3.0 or previous versions. Your schema should be standardized and reflect the events and revenue categories aligned with your ultimate objectives. This principle applies across all advertising networks.


Source_id

Apple replaces the two-digit campaign identification structure with a four-digit structure called "source_id." These IDs are used in TikTok's back-end to help attribute user engagements in your app to their interactions with specific TikTok campaigns. With the additional digits provided in SKAN 4.0, TikTok can encode more data in the click/view. The new data encoded into the source_id improves our data modeling for your ad groups and creatives.


Web2App

SKAN 4.0 adds support for web-to-app attribution for Safari.


To learn how to transition to SKAN 4.0, refer to How to transition to SKAN 4.0.