Games Marketing Glossary
Key terms and definitions used across games marketing, attribution, and analytics.
A
Ad Fatigue
A decline in user engagement and effectiveness of an advertisement due to repeated exposure. When users see the same ad too often, they tend to ignore it or react negatively, leading to lower click-through and conversion rates.
Ad Format
The structure or layout of an advertisement, such as static ads or video ads.
Ad Group (Ad Set)
A collection of ads within a campaign that share the same targeting criteria and budget.
Ad Type
The specific category or style of an ad, such as display, video, or native ads.
Attribution Metrics
Metrics used to determine how different marketing touchpoints contribute to conversions or other key actions.
Awareness Metrics
Metrics that measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts in generating awareness and interest in a product or brand.
C
Campaign
A coordinated series of marketing activities aimed at achieving specific goals, such as promoting a new game or feature.
Campaign Date
The day an ad is shown to a user. If a table is sorted by Campaign Date, the install is attributed to the last day the user was exposed to the ad.
Campaign Objective
The specific measurable outcome a campaign is aiming to achieve, such as generating installs, purchases, leads, or website visits. Objectives define what success looks like and are used to measure performance.
Campaign Startegy
The overarching approach used to guide an ad campaign toward its objective. Most strategies fall into three categories: Awareness (maximizing visibility), Consideration (encouraging users to engage or learn more), and Conversion (driving users to take specific actions like installing or purchasing).
Channel
The medium through which marketing messages are delivered, such as gaming websites or social media platforms.
Churn 30d
The segment of Matured Installs who have not returned to play the game within the last 30 days.
Cohort Matrix
A table tracking user retention by identifying specific groups (cohorts) based on their install date and monitoring their return rate over subsequent days (Day 0 to Day 12).
CPA
Cost Per Action; the average amount spent to drive one user to complete a desired action on the website — such as clicking the 'Buy Now' button or completing a sign-up. Calculated as campaign cost divided by number of conversions.
CPC
Cost Per Click; the amount an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on their ad. It reflects the efficiency of driving traffic to a destination (such as a website or store page) through paid media.
CPCV
Cost Per Completed View; the average cost an advertiser pays for each completed view of a video ad, where a 'completed view' means the viewer watched the video ad to its end or to a predefined threshold.
CPI
Cost Per Install; the amount an advertiser pays to acquire one user who installs the game generated through the campaign. It is calculated by dividing the advertising cost by the number of installs.
CPM
Cost Per Mille (or Cost Per Thousand) represents the amount an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions.
CPQ
Cost Per Quality represents the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions shown to users who meet a predefined quality threshold (e.g., engaged users or those with a higher likelihood to convert).
Creative (Ad)
The actual content of the advertisement, including the visual and textual elements.
CR% (Conversion Rate)
The percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, compared to the total number of users exposed to the ad.
D
D0 Install
The number of installs attributed to the same day (within the first 24 hours) when a user engaged with an ad or campaign. It reflects immediate conversions occurring on the day of initial exposure.
D1, D3, D7, D14, D30 Install
The number of installs attributed to the period from day 0 (day of first ad engagement) up to day N (1, 3, 7, 14, or 30). It includes installs that happen immediately or within the respective number of days after the user first engaged with the ad or campaign.
D1 / D3 / D7 / D14 / D30 Retention
D1, D3, D7, D14, and D30 retention indicate how many users are still active 1, 3, 7, 14, or 30 days after their first interaction, helping to evaluate user engagement and product quality over time.
DAU (Daily Active Users)
The total number of unique players who opened the game on a specific day, consisting of both new installs and returning users.
Direct
A user who was not exposed to any advertising campaign and has no referrer, but accessed the store directly (e.g., by typing the URL or using a bookmark).
DLC Installs
The number of installs of downloadable content (DLC) for a game.
E
eCPI
Effective Cost Per Install; the average cost per install including direct and organic installs. It helps assess campaign efficiency across all sources, even those without precise attribution.
Engaged Visits
A visit of at least 10 seconds, or one that includes two or more page views, or triggers at least one event like button click or scroll down. It replaces bounce rate to provide a more accurate measure of meaningful user interactions on a website.
Estimated CPI
The estimated cost per install of a game, calculated based on various data sources and predictive models.
Event Timestamp
The specific time at which an event or action, such as a user interaction or conversion, occurs.
G
I
Impressions
The number of times an advertisement is displayed to users, regardless of whether it was clicked or not. One impression is counted each time the ad appears on a user’s screen.
Influencer / Streamer Analytics Metrics
Metrics related to the performance and impact of content created by influencers or streamers, such as engagement rates and audience reach.
Install CVR%
The percentage of website visitors who ultimately installed or purchased the game — calculated as installs divided by website visitors.
IP Address
A unique string of numbers separated by periods (IPv4) or colons (IPv6) that identifies a device on a network.
M
Matured Installs 30d
The subset of total installs consisting of players who installed the game 30 days ago or longer, used as the baseline for calculating long-term churn and return rates.
Markov Chain
A statistical model used to predict future events based on the probabilities of previous events, often applied in attribution modeling.
Marketing Mix Modelling
A statistical technique used to estimate the impact of various marketing activities on sales and other business outcomes.
MAU (Monthly Active Users)
The total count of unique players who opened the game at least once within the last 30 days.
Measured Installs (from Steamworks UTM Analytics)
The number of installs tracked through Steamworks' UTM parameters, used to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Media Metrics
Metrics that assess the performance of media placements, including impressions, clicks, and engagement rates.
Modeled Installs
Estimates of the number of installs based on predictive models, which may use historical data and other variables.
P
Paid Installs
New game installations that are directly attributed to a specific advertising or marketing campaign, measured and verified through Tracks Attribution.
Platform
The system on which a game is played, such as PC, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch.
Pixel Lead
A user who was tracked and attributed through a pixel-based tracking method, usually by placing a tracking pixel on a webpage or in an ad to record actions such as clicks, views, or conversions.
Pixel Purchase
A purchase event triggered through the TRACKS platform by sending a postback. This allows accurate attribution of user purchases to the corresponding advertising campaign and helps the platform in the learning process.
R
Reactivated Player
A player who has returned to the game after a period of inactivity lasting 30 days or more.
Referrer
The source (such as a website, ad, or platform) that directed a user to a particular page or store, typically captured via HTTP headers or URL parameters.
Return Rate % (30d Lookback)
The percentage of Matured Installs (users from 30+ days ago) who have successfully returned to play the game at least once in the last 30 days.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
A metric that measures the revenue generated from advertising campaigns relative to the amount spent on those campaigns.
S
Strategy
The overall plan or approach used to achieve marketing objectives, including the selection of audiences, channels, targeting, and creative elements.
Storefront
The digital marketplace where a game or application is sold, such as Steam, PSN, Microsoft Store or eShop.
Steam Wishlist
A feature on Steam that allows users to save games they are interested in and receive notifications about their release or discounts.
Steamworks Metrics
Metrics provided by Steamworks, the set of tools and services used by developers to manage their games on Steam.
T
Target
The specific demographic or behavioral characteristics that a marketing campaign aims to reach.
Target Audience
The group of consumers that a marketing campaign is designed to engage, based on their interests, demographics, and behavior.
Targeting
The process of identifying and reaching specific segments of the audience that are most likely to respond to a marketing message.
Total Installs
The total count of players who downloaded and opened the game for the first time within the selected date range, accumulating both paid (attributed) and organic installs.
U
Unified Marketing Measurement
A comprehensive approach to measuring and analyzing marketing performance across various channels and touchpoints.
User ID
A unique identifier assigned to each user to track their interactions and activities across different platforms and services.
UTM
Urchin Tracking Module; parameters added to URLs to track the performance of marketing campaigns in web analytics.
W
WAU (Weekly Active Users)
The total count of unique players who opened the game at least once within the last 7 days.
Web Analytics Metrics
Metrics used to evaluate the performance of a website, including metrics such as page views, session duration, and bounce rate.
Web Conversions
The number of completed actions on a website that align with marketing goals, such as purchases or sign-ups.
Web Conversions CVR%
The percentage of website visitors who completed a desired action, such as clicking a 'Buy Now' button or signing up — calculated as conversions divided by total website visitors.
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