What an Organic Install Is
An organic install is an app install with no tracked marketing source. When an install is reported, the attribution platform checks for every signal it knows how to read: an ad click inside the lookback window, an impression inside a view-through window, a store referrer from a tracked link, a claim from a self-attributing network, a referral code. If nothing matches, the install is organic.
The term suggests users who found you on their own, through App Store or Play Store search, browsing the charts, a friend's recommendation, a news article. Many organic installs are exactly that. But "organic" really means "unattributed", and the difference matters.
Where Organic Installs Come From
True organic sources include store search and browse, featuring by Apple or Google, word of mouth, press, and brand awareness built over time. App store optimization is the main lever for store-driven organics.
Unmeasured marketing also lands as organic:
- Ads viewed but not clicked, when view-through attribution is off or not supported for that channel.
- Cross-device journeys, where a user saw an ad on a laptop and installed on a phone.
- iOS users who declined ATT and came from networks that rely on device-level matching.
- Offline media, posters, podcasts or TV without a QR code or tracked link.
- Links shared without tracking, such as a plain store link in a creator's bio.
This is why organic share is a measure of how much you can see as much as how much demand you created.
Organic Versus Paid
A paid install is credited to a campaign you paid for. Every install is one or the other in an MMP's reporting, plus owned channels such as referrals, push or email that some teams group separately.
The ratio matters for planning. Teams often report an organic uplift or k-factor: how many organic installs each paid install generates. A rising organic baseline after a big campaign suggests a halo effect. A falling one right after paid spend starts deserves a closer look.
Organic Installs and Fraud
Fraud often targets organic installs, because they are easy to steal. Click spamming fires large numbers of fake clicks so that some of them happen to fall before real organic installs, and click injection fires a click at the moment an install begins. Both turn organic users into paid installs for the fraudster.
Warning signs include organic installs falling when a new network or affiliate starts, very short or very long click-to-install times on that source, and paid installs with retention that looks just like organic users. Linkrunner's fraud protection includes templates for click injection and click flooding, and can withhold postbacks for flagged installs.
Organic Installs in Linkrunner
Linkrunner records an install as organic when no deterministic signal or eligible click matches it within the channel's click window. Click windows default to 30 days for Google and Meta and 7 days for other networks, and can be set from 1 to 30 days per channel. View-through attribution for affiliate partners is off by default and can be turned on with a 1 to 24 hour window.
Organic installs sit next to paid installs in the dashboard, with the same cohorts, retention and revenue views, so you can compare organic users with each campaign's users directly. Webhooks for organic installs are opt-in. See mobile attribution and analytics.
Reading Organic Numbers Well
- Track organic share over time, not just the count, and annotate it with campaign launches and store featuring.
- Compare organic users' retention and revenue with each paid channel's. Paid users that look identical to organics may be stolen organics.
- Use incrementality testing when you need to know how many organics a campaign really adds.