Short answer: give every place you share your app its own tracked link, and send Android users through the Play Store with a click ID in the install referrer. When the app opens, the referrer tells you exactly which link brought the install, whether it was shared in WhatsApp, printed in a QR code or sent by SMS. For phones that cannot install your app, a USSD code can still turn the click into a session with your service.
Why don't these channels show up in my reports?
Because there is no ad platform behind them. Meta and Google report on their own ads. A link forwarded in a WhatsApp group, a QR code on a market stall or a text message sends people straight to the Play Store, and without a tracked link the install shows up as organic.
How does tracking work for each channel?
The method is the same everywhere: a short link that records the click, then a Play Store referrer that carries a click ID into the app. Our Install Referrer guide explains that second step.
| Channel | How the link travels | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Pasted in a chat, a group or a status | Use https links; give each group or broadcast its own link if you want them compared | |
| QR code | The link encoded in the code, scanned with the camera | A short link keeps the code simple to scan; print a different code for each location |
| SMS | The link in the message text | A short link leaves more room for the message |
| A link in a campaign or a receipt | One link per campaign | |
| Creators and referrals | Each creator or user shares their own link | The link is the record of who brought whom |
| USSD | A short code dialled on any phone | No app install involved; see below |
What should I split into separate links?
The channel is stored on the link, so separate links give you separate numbers. A sensible rule is one link per campaign per place it appears. A poster in Lagos and a poster in London get two links; so do your WhatsApp channel and your SMS send. You can then compare installs, and later revenue, link by link.
What happens on phones that cannot install the app?
Feature phones, iPhones (when your app is Android only) and desktops cannot install an Android app. A Measura link still records their click, and then:
- on a desktop, it opens your web fallback;
- on a feature phone or an iPhone, if the link has a USSD code, it shows a page that opens the dialler with your code filled in. The person presses call and reaches your USSD service. Nothing dials on their behalf. Without a USSD code, they get the web fallback too.
Measura measures the click and the hand-off. It does not see what happens inside the USSD session itself. More on the hand-off is on the USSD page.
How do I set this up with Measura?
- Add the Android SDK (one Gradle line) and call
Measura.init. It reads the Play Install Referrer on first launch for you. - Create a link for each place you will share it in the dashboard. Choose its channel (WhatsApp, QR code, SMS, USSD, email and others), and set the Android destination to your Play Store page, with the in-app screen new users should land on if you want one.
- Share the links. Each install is credited with its confidence score, the signal that matched and the clicks that lost.
Short links, deep links and the fraud report are on every plan, Free included. See the pricing page.
Questions people ask
Can I tell which WhatsApp group an install came from?
Only if each group got its own link. WhatsApp does not tell anyone where a link was forwarded.
Do I need the advertising ID for this?
No. The click ID travels in the Play Store referrer, which needs no advertising ID and no permission.
What if someone screenshots the QR code and shares it?
The install is still credited to that QR code's link, because the link inside it is the same. If you need to tell print from shares, use different links for each.