There is a part of your funnel that isn't in Google Ads, isn't run by your campaign team, and decides half of your cost per install: the store listing. Ignoring it is like optimising web campaigns without ever having seen the landing page.
Where it sits in the funnel
The journey is: impression → click → store listing → install → open → value event. Google Ads charges you for the click; the listing decides how many of those clicks become installs. Improve that conversion rate and you lower your cost per install without touching the campaign — and the effect applies to ALL your traffic: paid and organic, today and six months from now. It is one of the few levers that pays for itself.
Public industry data puts visit-to-install conversion on store listings in the region of 25-35%, with the App Store somewhat ahead of Google Play (among other reasons, because it shows the first screenshots higher on screen). Your own number may be far from that reference in either direction: what matters is knowing it and moving it.
The elements that decide
Roughly in order of impact on a user arriving from an ad:
- Icon: the first thing seen, at a tiny size. It must read as a thumbnail and stand out from competitors.
- Title and subtitle: name + the promise in a few words.
- The first screenshots: this is where it is won or lost. One benefit each, with text legible on a phone, not raw interface captures.
- The listing video: if there is one, it should tell the same story the ad promised.
- Ratings and reviews: social proof — and one reason campaigns perform worse when the average score drops.
- Description: it matters for in-store search; a user arriving from an ad rarely reads it fully.
Ad → listing coherence
The number one cause of a listing converting badly with paid traffic isn't the listing: it is the mismatch. If the ad promises "plan your routes offline" and the listing talks about "the social network for travellers", the user drops out at the intermediate step. Every creative angle should be reflected in what the listing shows first.
Custom listings and experiments
Google Play lets you create custom store listings — variants by country, language or tied to specific campaigns — and run experiments comparing icons, screenshots or text with real traffic. This is what turns ASO into something measurable rather than a matter of taste: you test one variant per campaign or market and compare conversion.
A natural use for campaign managers: if you have four creative angles, consider a listing aligned with the dominant angle for each market or campaign, instead of one generic listing for everyone.
Who does this work
Almost always, nobody: product thinks it is marketing's job and marketing thinks it is product's. If you run the campaigns, claim this piece — at least the screenshots and the video — or present it with numbers: "every point of listing conversion is worth €X a month in cost per install".
💡 Ninja trick: before touching the campaign because CPI is rising, check the average rating and the latest reviews. An update that broke something, with a wave of one-star reviews, raises the CPI of every campaign without anything odd showing up in Google Ads.
⚠️ Pitfall: measuring ASO only by organic installs. Its main effect for you is that it makes all your paid traffic cheaper; if you only look at organic, you underestimate its return and will never give it the time it deserves.
What you should remember
- The listing is your landing page: its conversion moves your CPI.
- Icon, title and first screenshots decide; reviews brake or push.
- Mind the coherence between the ad's angle and what the listing shows first.
- Use custom listings and experiments to decide with data.