App campaigns are highly automated: you provide text, images, video, and HTML5 assets plus a bid and budget, and Google generates and places ads across its properties. There are three main subtypes — app installs, which acquire new users; app engagement, which brings existing users back to take actions; and app pre-registration, which builds interest before an Android app launches.
Because Google controls targeting and placements, success depends on sending the right in-app conversion events through an app-measurement integration such as Firebase or a mobile measurement partner, and on choosing the right goal — installs, in-app actions, or in-app value.
Example
A fitness app runs an App campaign optimized for in-app subscriptions rather than raw installs, so Google finds users likely to become paying members.
How Sloss Digital uses it
For app clients, we set up clean in-app event tracking first, then optimize App campaigns toward valuable actions like subscriptions or purchases instead of cheap installs.