Apple Ads on two exam-prep apps: CA$0.88 vs CA$4.13 per install
Same storefront, same small budgets, very different results. What the search terms showed, where the money went without an install, and what we're changing.
The setup
Two of our study apps ran Apple Ads in Canada from July 10 to October 3, 2026, on small budgets: CA$37.84 for our Québec driving test app and CA$94.91 for our Canadian citizenship test app. AppGrowly reads the Apple Ads reports (it never changes campaigns) and puts each keyword and search term next to what it cost and what it brought in.
What the numbers showed
The driving test app turned 75% of ad taps into installs (43 of 57), for CA$0.88 per install. The citizenship app turned 37% of taps into installs (23 of 63), for CA$4.13 per install.
Where the citizenship app's money went
Splitting the spend by keyword explained most of the gap:
- Two specific searches that name the exam and the year (one of them is the app's own name) brought 18 of the 23 installs for CA$48.63: about CA$2.70 each.
- Three broad keywords, “citizenship”, “canadian citizenship” and “canada citizenship test 2026”, cost CA$24.17 for 4 installs: about CA$6.04 each.
- Three keywords spent CA$5.01 without a single install: “canadian citizen”, “canada citizenship test” and “canadian citizenship test mock”.
- Search Match showed the ad for searches unrelated to the app, like “passport canada” and “cnesst”. They hadn't cost anything yet, which makes this the cheapest moment to block them.
What the driving test app showed
The search terms Apple reported for it all came from Search Match finding what people really type, many in French: “test saaq” (6 installs for CA$8.30), “saaq” (4 for CA$4.07) and “examen theorique saaq” (3 taps, 3 installs, CA$2.07). AppGrowly adds searches that bring installs through ads to the app's target searches, so they now shape its listing suggestions too.
What we're changing
- Pause the three keywords that spent money without an install, and lower bids on the broad ones.
- Add the unrelated searches as negative keywords before they start costing money.
- Turn the searches Search Match proved, including the French ones, into exact-match keywords.
- One of the best keywords is the citizenship app's own name. We're checking whether it already ranks first for that search without ads, so we don't pay for installs it would get anyway.
The lesson
On a small budget, specific searches that match exactly what the app does beat broad ones. Let Search Match find the real searches, then keep the ones that bring installs and block the rest.
We'll add the before-and-after numbers here when AppGrowly's report on these changes is in.
AppGrowly does the same for iPhone and Android apps: what to change, the store policy check, Apple Ads analysis and a measured result for every change.