Mobile measurement and attribution platform AppsFlyer cannot track linear television or direct streaming campaigns, leaving app marketers blind to the majority of their actual media spend, according to attribution data published by measurement firm Tatari. While nearly every TV platform connects to AppsFlyer as a standard Ad Network partner—serving ads with tracking URLs that allow independent attribution of installs—that structural integration was built exclusively for digital channels and programmatic streaming.
How Ad Network Integrations Limit TV App Measurement
When marketers rely solely on an AppsFlyer Ad Network partnership, every television impression flows into the dashboard right alongside traffic from Meta and Google. App marketers get a unified view where TV sits next to digital media spend. According to Tatari, however, this setup creates a severe blind spot. Traditional linear TV buys and direct streaming campaigns never enter AppsFlyer’s tracking environment, meaning standard digital attribution models cannot apply the specific measurement rigor that television requires.
Pro Tip: Audit your current media mix to identify what percentage of your TV budget sits in linear or direct streaming buys. If your AppsFlyer dashboard shows zero spend for these channels, you are operating without full visibility into your customer acquisition funnel.
Tatari’s Dual Model as a Signal Partner
To capture non-programmatic media, Tatari established a secondary path by operating as an AppsFlyer Signal Partner. Instead of merely feeding impressions into the platform, Tatari receives app data—such as installs and conversions—directly from AppsFlyer, then runs channel-specific measurement on top of it. According to Tatari, this methodology incorporates a proprietary device graph, communal IP filtering to eliminate background noise, cross-publisher measurement, and incrementality-based analysis built specifically for television rather than retrofitted from digital attribution models.
Three Ways to Configure Your TV Measurement Setup
App marketers now face a choice between competing attribution frameworks depending on their organizational reporting needs:
- Make AppsFlyer your primary source: TV impression data flows directly into your AppsFlyer dashboard, giving you a unified cross-channel view. The major caveat, according to Tatari, is that linear and direct streaming campaigns remain entirely unmeasured.
- Make Tatari your source of truth, supplemented by AppsFlyer: This setup pulls data from AppsFlyer to feed Tatari’s incrementality-based analysis, providing a complete signal across the entire install journey for linear, direct streaming, and programmatic buys.
- Run both models simultaneously: Pull numbers from both platforms and put them side by side to establish a clear performance range, accommodating internal teams who rely on different legacy reporting sources.
Did You Know? Tatari currently operates within AppsFlyer in a dual role as both an Ad Network partner and a Signal Partner, a combination that allows marketing teams to bypass traditional digital-only attribution constraints without sacrificing their existing dashboard workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AppsFlyer track linear television ads?
No. According to Tatari, AppsFlyer’s attribution architecture is built for digital channels and programmatic streaming, meaning linear TV and direct streaming buys do not enter the standard tracking picture.
What is the difference between an Ad Network partner and a Signal Partner?
An Ad Network partner sends ad impressions into AppsFlyer so the platform can independently attribute installs. A Signal Partner receives conversion data from AppsFlyer to run independent, channel-specific measurement models.
Can I use both measurement approaches at the same time?
Yes. App marketers can run both models concurrently to compare different methodologies and establish a complete performance range across all programmatic and linear TV campaigns.
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