How is re-engagement different from a new install?

A new install is a user's first time on the app and belongs to user acquisition. A re-engagement is an existing user returning, and belongs to retargeting. The two are reported separately so acquisition costs and retargeting results do not mix.

What do I need to measure re-engagements?

Deep links that open the app directly, an SDK that reports the deep link open with the campaign it came from, and a re-engagement window that decides how long after the open the user's events count toward the campaign. On iOS, Apple's AdAttributionKit also measures re-engagement in aggregate without user-level data.

What is a re-engagement window?

It is the period after a re-engagement during which the user's in-app events, such as purchases, are credited to the retargeting campaign. After the window ends, events are credited back to the user's original source or to no campaign.

Are re-engagements billed by MMPs?

It depends on the MMP. Some charge for retargeting conversions. Linkrunner does not bill re-engagements; re-attributed installs are billed like any attributed install.

What is Re-engagement Attribution? Complete Guide for 2026

Q: What is re-engagement attribution?

Re-engagement attribution measures existing users who already have your app installed and return to it through a marketing campaign, such as a retargeting ad, email, push notification or SMS with a deep link. The app open, and the events that follow, are credited to that campaign.

What Re-engagement Attribution Is

Re-engagement attribution credits a returning user's app open to the campaign that brought them back. The user already has your app. They see a retargeting ad, tap a link in an email, or open a push notification, and the deep link opens the app on the right screen. The attribution platform records that open as a re-engagement and credits it, and what the user does next, to the campaign.

It is the measurement side of retargeting. Without it, campaigns aimed at existing users have no way to show what they produce.

How It Works

The campaign uses a deep link. Retargeting ads, emails and pushes point to an attribution link that carries campaign details and a deep link to a screen in the app.
The app opens through the link. On iOS through universal links, on Android through app links, the operating system opens the installed app instead of the browser or store.
The SDK reports the open. The app passes the incoming link to the attribution SDK, which reports it with the campaign it came from.
The platform checks the rules. If the user meets the inactivity window, the open is recorded as a re-engagement for that campaign.
Events follow. Purchases and other events within the re-engagement window are credited to the campaign, so retargeting ROAS can be measured.

Re-engagement Versus Re-attribution

Re-engagement is a user who still has the app and comes back through a campaign. Re-attribution usually means a user who uninstalled and reinstalled through a campaign. Both are retargeting outcomes and are often reported side by side.

Re-engagement on iOS

Device-level re-engagement on iOS works when the deep link opens the app and the SDK reports it, which does not need the IDFA. For ad networks that measure in aggregate, Apple's AdAttributionKit adds re-engagement postbacks, crediting app opens from ads to the network without user-level data. Ad network support for AdAttributionKit re-engagement is still uneven, so confirm it with each partner.

What Can Go Wrong

The link opens the browser, not the app. Universal link or app link setup is incomplete, so the user lands on a web page and the re-engagement is lost. Hosting the association files correctly is the most common fix.
In-app browsers. Links opened inside social apps may not open your app directly. An intermediary page that sends users out of the in-app browser helps.
The SDK never sees the link. If the app handles the deep link itself without passing it to the attribution SDK, the open is not reported.
Active users get counted. With a zero-day inactivity window, users who would have opened the app anyway can be credited to retargeting. Choose a window that matches how often people use your app.

Re-engagement in Linkrunner

Linkrunner records a re-engagement when a user who already has the app opens it through a Linkrunner deep link. That requires deep linking set up in the app and the SDK's handleDeepLink function called when the app opens from a link. Linkrunner hosts the AASA and assetlinks files for your domain, supports branded subdomains, and offers a social intermediary page that gets users out of in-app browsers.

Push campaigns run through MoEngage and WebEngage with a Linkrunner link are tracked as remarketing campaigns too. On the Campaigns page, the Retargeting view shows reinstalls and re-engagements per campaign, and the reporting API returns the same numbers. Re-engagements are free; attributed installs, including re-attributed reinstalls, are billed. See retargeting and deep links.

Measuring Retargeting Well

Report retargeting separately from acquisition, with its own spend and ROAS.
Compare re-engaged users with a similar group that was not retargeted, to see what the campaign actually added.
Deep link to the screen the ad promised, such as the product or offer, not just the home screen.