Definition:
Clicks (Reported) are the number of times your ad was clicked on as recorded and reported by the ad network directly.
Definition:
Clicks (Tracked) are the number of times your ad was clicked on as recorded by Tenjin, typically via a click tracking URL placed within your ad setup. Some networks, such as Google and Snap, do not require tracking links and are measured differently.
What is a Click?
A click is recorded any time a user taps or clicks on an advertisement, whether that ad appears in an app, on a website, or within a mobile placement. It is one of the most fundamental signals in digital advertising, and one of the most widely used indicators of how well an ad is performing.
But not all clicks are measured the same way. Understanding the difference between how clicks are tracked and how they are reported is essential for anyone who wants to read their campaign data accurately.
What is a Click in Mobile Marketing?
When a user sees an ad and taps on it, that interaction is counted as a click. In most cases, the click redirects the user to a destination such as a product page, an app store listing, a landing page, where they can take further action. That further action, whether it is a purchase, a sign-up, or an install, is what most campaigns are ultimately optimizing for.
Clicks sit between impressions and conversions in the funnel. They tell you that an ad was compelling enough to prompt an action, even if that action did not always lead to the outcome you wanted.
Why Clicks Matter
Clicks are used in a few important ways across campaign measurement and optimization.
Measuring Ad Effectiveness
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of impressions that result in a click. This is one of the most commonly used indicators of creative and targeting performance. A high CTR suggests your ad is resonating with the audience it is reaching. A low CTR is a signal to investigate: is the creative underperforming, or is the audience wrong?
Connecting Spend to Outcomes
Clicks are a key link in the attribution chain. They help connect ad exposure to downstream events like installs, sign-ups, or purchases making it possible to measure which campaigns and channels are actually driving results.
Informing Pricing Models
Some ad networks charge on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, meaning every click has a direct cost. In these models, click quality (how often clicks lead to meaningful conversions) matters just as much as click volume.
Tracked Clicks vs Reported Clicks
This is where click data gets more nuanced. In Tenjin, you will encounter two distinct click metrics:
Reported clicks come from the ad network itself. When a user clicks your ad, the network logs it and includes that count in the data it sends back to you. This number reflects what the network saw on its end.
Tracked clicks are recorded by Tenjin when a user triggers a click tracking URL generated within the platform. This gives you an independent measurement of click activity, but one that is not solely dependent on what the ad network reports.
For some networks, tracked clicks require a Tenjin-generated tracking link to be placed within your ad setup. Others including Google do not require tracking links and handle click measurement differently.
Why the Two Numbers Sometimes Differ
It is normal for reported clicks and tracked clicks to show different numbers. A few reasons this happens:
Timing Differences
Clicks may be logged at slightly different moments by the network and by Tenjin's tracking system.
Bot and Invalid Traffic Filtering
Tenjin may filter out certain clicks that an ad network counts, or vice versa.
Network-Specific Measurement Methods
Some networks use view-through or engagement signals that affect how clicks are counted on their end.
Tracking Link Placement
If a tracking URL is not correctly implemented, tracked clicks will undercount relative to reported clicks.
Understanding which metric you are looking at and why the two might differ helps you interpret your data more accurately and avoid drawing the wrong conclusions from discrepancies.
Clicks in the Context of Attribution
Clicks are not just a performance indicator, they are also a core input for mobile attribution. Click-based attribution works by matching a recorded click to a downstream install or conversion event, using the timing and device signals available at the point of click.
As privacy frameworks like ATT and SKAdNetwork have reshaped how user-level data flows, the role of the click in attribution has evolved. Deterministic matching, where a single click is tied directly to a single install, is no longer always possible for opted-out users. Probabilistic methods and aggregated models have become increasingly important complements.
Tenjin tracks and reconciles both reported and tracked click data, giving you a clear and complete view of click activity across your campaigns and connecting that data to the attribution and performance metrics that inform your growth decisions.